The new cardinals will get their red hats at a ceremony, known as a consistory, on Dec. 8, an important feast day on its own that officially kicks off the Christmas season in Rome.

Pope Francis has chosen 21 new cardinals in a move that once again shows his determination to reshape the group of churchmen who will elect his successor.

Pope Francis will create 21 new cardinals on December 8, 20 of whom can vote for a new pope. Among them are Frank Leo, archbishop of Toronto, and Timothy Radcliffe, former master of the Dominicans.

The Archbishop of Toronto is among 21 new cardinals Pope Francis named Sunday and the lone new cardinal from North America.

The last consistory to create new cardinals took place on Sept. 30, 2023. The new cardinals included Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem; Cardinal Stephen Chow of Hong Kong; and Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The Archbishop of Toronto is among 21 new cardinals Pope Francis named Sunday and the lone new cardinal from North America. The Archbishop of Toronto Francis Leo says a eucharist prayer during a mass on Holy Thursday at St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica in Toronto on Thursday, March 28, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Pope Francis on Sunday announced he will appoint 21 new cardinals of the global Catholic Church, in an unexpected push to influence the powerful group of churchmen that will one day choose his successor.

In announcing on Sunday that he would appoint 21 new cardinals, Pope Francis once again elevated clerics from far beyond Catholicism’s traditional centers of power, in line with his vision of a more global,

Pope Francis has chosen 21 new cardinals in a move that once again shows his determination to reshape the group of churchmen who will elect his successor.