Pope Francis announces 15 bishops, archbishops to become cardinals

By Holly Yan
CNN
January 4, 2015

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/04/world/vatican-pope-new-cardinals/

Pope Francis said Sunday that he would hold a meeting of cardinals on February 14 "during which I will name 15 new Cardinals who, coming from 13 countries from every continent, manifest the indissoluble links between the Church of Rome and the particular Churches present in the world," according to Vatican Radio.

New cardinals are always important because they set the tone in the church and also elect the next pope, CNN senior Vatican analyst John L. Allen said. They are sometimes referred to as the princes of the Catholic Church.

The new cardinals come from countries such as Ethiopia, New Zealand and Myanmar.

"This is a pope who very much wants to reach out to people on the margins, and you clearly see that in this set," Allen said. "You're talking about cardinals from typically overlooked places, like Cape Verde, the Pacific island of Tonga, Panama, Thailand, Uruguay."

But for the second time since Francis' election, no Americans made the list.

"Francis' pattern is very clear: He wants to go to the geographical peripheries rather than places that are already top-heavy with cardinals," Allen said.

In addition to the 15 new cardinals, five retired archbishops and bishops will also be honored as cardinals.

Last year, Pope Francis appointed 19 new cardinals.

CNN's Christabelle Fombu contributed to this report.