Benedict XVI Elevates 15 to Cardinal

Pope Benedict XVI elevated 15 men to College of Cardinals today at an Ordinary Consistory, a ceremony in which the new Princes of the Roman Catholic Church receive three-cornered hats of crimson, the color distinguishing their new office and signifying their willigness to shed blood to spread the Christian faith.

In addition to fulfilling vital roles as advisors to the Pope and leaders at the highest administrative and pastoral roles of the Church, some Cardinals (those below age 80) also serve as electors in the Conclave, the means by which a new Pope is chosen.

According to the announcement made in an audience by Benedict XVI on 22 February 2006, the new cardinals eligible to participate in a conclave are:

Archbishop William Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Archbishop Franc Rodé, C.M., Prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life

Archbishop Agostino Vallini, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura

Archbishop Jorge Liberato Urosa Savino of Caracas, Venezuela

Archbishop Gaudencio B. Rosales of Manila, the Philippines

Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux, France

Archbishop Antonio Cañizares Llovera of Toledo, Spain

Archbishop Nicholas Cheong-Jin-suk of Seoul, Korea

Archbishop Sean Patrick O'Malley, O.F.M. Cap., of Boston, U.S.A.

Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, Poland

Archbishop Carlo Caffarra of Bologna, Italy

Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, S.D.B., of Hong Kong

Three Cardinals elevated for their distinguised service include:

Archbishop Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, Archpriest of the Basilica of St Paul Outside-the-Walls

Archbishop Peter Poreku Dery, Archbishop emeritus of Tamale, Ghana

Father Albert Vanhoye, S.J., former Rector of the Pontifical Institute the Biblicum, and Secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission