Pope Francis said on Sunday that he will create 21 new cardinals, including Bishop Peter Okpaleke Bishop of Ekwulobia (Nigeria), at a consistory on Aug. 27.
The 85-year-old pope made the announcement from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square after reciting the Regina Coeli prayer on May 29.
Pope Francis announced that he will create 21 new Cardinals at a Consistory on Saturday, 27 August. They represent the Church worldwide, and reflect a wide variety of cultures, contexts and pastoral ministries.
At the conclusion of the Regina Coeli on Sunday, Pope Francis said that on Saturday, 27 August, he will hold a Consistory for the creation of new cardinals.
He also said that he will meet during the next two days – on Monday and Tuesday, 29-30 August – with all the cardinals to reflect on the new Apostolic Constitution Praedicate evangelium.
“On Saturday, 27 August, I will hold a Consistory for the creation of new Cardinals. Let us pray that they will help me in my mission as Bishop of Rome for the good of all God’s people,” Vatican official said.
The College of Cardinals currently consists of 208 Cardinals, of whom 117 are electors and 91 non-electors. As of 27 August, the number will grow to 229 Cardinals, of whom 131 will be electors.
Eight of the newly named Cardinals are from Europe, six from Asia, two from Africa, one from North America, and four from Central and Latin America.
Here are the names of all 21 new cardinals:
1. Archbishop Arthur Roche – Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
2. Archbishop Lazzaro You Heung sik – Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy
3. Archbishop Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, L.C. – President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governorate for Vatican City State
4. Archbishop Jean-Marc Aveline – Metropolitan Archbishop of Marseille (France)
5. Bishop Peter Okpaleke – Bishop of Ekwulobia (Nigeria)
6. Archbishop Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, O.F.M. – Metropolitan Archbishop of Manaus (Brazil)
7. Archbishop Filipe Neri António Sebastião di Rosário Ferrão – Archbishop of Goa and Damão (India)
8. Bishop Robert Walter McElroy – Bishop of San Diego (U.S.A)
9. Archbishop Virgilio Do Carmo Da Silva, S.D.B. – Archbishop of Dili (East Timor)
10. Bishop Oscar Cantoni – Bishop of Como (Italy)
11. Archbishop Anthony Poola – Archbishop di Hyderabad (India).
12. Archbishop Paulo Cezar Costa – Metropolitan Archbishop of Brasília (Brazil)
13. Bishop Richard Kuuia Baawobr, M. Africa – Bishop of Wa (Ghana)
14. Archbishop William Goh Seng Chye – Archbishop of Singapore (Singapore)
15. Archbishop Adalberto Martínez Flores – Metropolitan Archbishop of Asunción (Paraguay)
16. Archbishop Giorgio Marengo, I.M.C. – Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia)
17. Archbishop Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal – Archbishop Emeritus of Cartagena (Colombia)
18. Bishop Lucas Van Looy, S.D.B. – Bishop Emeritus of Gent (Belgium)
19. Archbishop Arrigo Miglio – Archbishop Emeritus of Cagliari (Italy)
20. Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, S.J. – Professor di Theology
21. Msgr. Fortunato Frezza – Canon of Saint Peter’s Basilica
Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has created 101 cardinals from 58 countries at seven consistories.
The last consistory to create new cardinals took place on Nov. 28, 2020.
Immediately following the 2020 consistory, Pope Francis had appointed 73 of the members of the College of Cardinals eligible to vote a future conclave. Benedict XVI had named 39 of the cardinal electors and John Paul II had appointed 16.
Ahead of the upcoming consistory, there are currently 117 cardinal electors, 67 (52%) of whom have been appointed by Pope Francis.
Okpaleke’s Priesthood/Episcopacy
Peter Ebere Okpaleke is a Nigerian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Bishop of Ekwulobia since 29 April 2020. He was appointed Bishop of Ahiara in 2012 and consecrated in 2013, but after the local clergy and laity insisted on an Mbaise bishop instead he was installed as bishop of Ekwulobia.
On 29 May 2022, Pope Francis announced he would make Okpaleke a cardinal at a consistory scheduled for 27 August
He was born on 1 March 1963 in Amesi in Anambra State, Nigeria. He attended local schools and in 1983 entered the Bigard Memorial Major Seminary in Ikot-Ekpene and Enugu, where he studied philosophy and theology from 1983 to 1992. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Awka on 22 August 1990.
In the twenty years following his ordination he filled a wide variety of pastoral and administrative positions, including university chaplain, parish priest, diocesan finance administrator, diocesan chancellor, and secretary and member of diocesan boards. He also studied canon law in Rome at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.
On 7 December 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Okpaleke Bishop of Ahiara, Nigeria. Okpaleke was consecrated a bishop on 21 May 2013. Because of objections to his appointment, his consecration was held outside the Diocese, in the Major Seminary of Ulakwo in the Archdiocese of Owerri.
Local clergy and parishioners objected to his appointment and prevented him from entering the cathedral in order to take possession of the diocese. A petition objecting to the fact that Okpaleke was not of the area’s Mbaise ethnic origin was sent to Pope Benedict after he appointed Okpaleke bishop. On 9 June 2017, Pope Francis gave clergy in the diocese 30 days to either write a letter promising obedience and accepting Okpaleke as their bishop or be suspended. Clergy sent letters of apology but continued to protest what they saw as as racial discrimination.
On 19 February 2018, Pope Francis accepted Okpaleke’s resignation as Bishop of Ahiara.
On 5 March 2020, just over two years after accepting his resignation as Bishop of Ahiara, Pope Francis appointed Okpaleke the Bishop of the Diocese of Ekwulobia, a newly created diocese in Anambra State which formerly had its territory under the jurisdiction of Awka Diocese. Okpaleke was installed there on 29 April 2020.
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