Advertise in this spot on CatholicCulture.org. View all ads.

Catholic World News News Feature

Background: New composition of the College of Cardinals March 24, 2006

With the addition of 15 new members on March 24, the College of Cardinals became slightly younger. The average age of the cardinals is now 76 years, 3 months-- down from 76 years, 9 months.

There are now 193 members of the College of Cardinals, of whom 120 are below the age of 80 and therefore eligible to particiapte in a papal conclave.

The eldest living cardinal is Johannes Willebrands, the former Archbishop of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, and former president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity. Cardinal Willebrands is one of the 10 living cardinals named by Pope Paul VI. Aside from those 10, and the 15 new cardinals elevated today, all of the other living cardinals were appointed by Pope John Paul II.

The youngest cardinal is the Hungarian Peter Erdo, Archbishop of Budapest, who will celebrate his 54th birthday in October. He received his red hat from Pope John Paul in October 2003. Among the 15 new cardinals, the youngest is Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who is 61.

Since Pope Benedict announced his plans for the consistory, on February 22, two cardinals have reached their 80th birthdays and dropped off the list of cardinal-electors. Cardinal Bernard Agré, the former Archbishop of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, turned 80 on March 2; Cardinal Desmond Connell, the retired Archbishop of Dublin, celebrates his 80th birthday today.

Seven more cardinals will turn 80 before the end of 2006: Cardinals Agostino Cacciavillan (the former president of the Adminstration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See) and Marian Jaworski (the Latin-rite Archbishop of Lviv, Ukraine) in August; Jean-Marie Lustiger (former Archbishop of Paris) and Ricardo Carles Gordo (former Archbishop of Barcelona) in September; William Baum (former Apostolic Penitentiary) and Emmanuel Wamala (Archbishop of Kampala, Uganda) in November; and Jorge Medina Estevez (former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship) in December.

With 8 new cardinals, including 6 cardinal-electors, Europe returns its place as the place as the continent most heavily represented in the College of Cardinals. There are now 94 European cardinals, of whom 60 are electors, representing exactly half of the cardinals eligible to participate in a conclave.

Asia, dubbed by Pope Benedict "the continent of the 3rd millennium," has a somewhat stronger representation in the College of Cardinals after today's consistory. Asia now has 3 new cardinals, all of them eligible to vote in a papal election. Among the 15 new cardinals are Joseph Zen of Hong Kong, Nicolas Cheong Jin-Suk of Seoul, and Gaudencio Rosales of Manila. The North American contingent is also stronger, with two new cardinals (O'Malley and Levada), both electors. But Latin America, where nearly half of the world's Catholics now live, sees its representation diminished a bit, with only one new cardinal (Jorge Liberato Urosa Savino of Caracas). And the only new cardinal from Africa, the retired Archbishop Peter Deery of Tamale, Ghana, is already over 80.