Pope Elevates Archbishop O’Brien to College of Cardinals

BALTIMORE (MD)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore

January 06, 2012

Pope Benedict XVI today named Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, 72, to the College of Cardinals. As Cardinal, Cardinal-designate O’Brien will serve as an advisor to the Pope and be eligible to vote in a Papal election until his 80th birthday. A consistory to formally elevate the new Cardinals will be held at the Vatican on February 18, 2012.

Cardinal-designate O’Brien and New York Archbishop and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Timothy Dolan, are among 22 new Cardinals announced by Pope Benedict.

Cardinal-designate O’Brien served as the 15th Archbishop of Baltimore from October 2007 until August 2011 when the Pope appointed him Pro Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem. He has served as Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Baltimore since his appointment in August and will continue to lead the nation’s oldest Catholic diocese until his eventual successor is installed.

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