VATICAN CITY
Inquirer (Philippines)
VATICAN CITY—Pope Benedict XVI has named Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle and five other prelates from Lebanon, Nigeria, Colombia, India and the United States as new cardinals.
Benedict made the surprise announcement during his weekly general audience Wednesday and said they would be elevated at a consistory November 24. The nominations help even out the geographic distribution of cardinals, which had tilted heavily toward Italy.
At 55, Tagle is currently the world’s youngest cardinal.
The pontiff elevated Tagle, head of the Philippines’ largest archdiocese, to the College of Cardinals together with Monsignor James Harvey, the American prefect of the pope’s household; Archbishop of Abuja, Nigeria, John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan; Archbishop of Bogota, Colombia, Ruben Salazar Gomez; Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites in Lebanon, Bechara Boutros Rai; and the major Archbishop of the Trivandrum of the Siro-Malankaresi in India, Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal.
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