Pope Francis to Create 21 New Cardinals in December 8 Consistory, Including Two Archbishops in Africa

Aged 62, Archbishop Dogbo was ordained a Priest of Ivory Coast’s Yopougon Catholic Diocese in August 1987. As a Priest, he served in various positions, among them Parish Priest of Saint Andrew of Yopougon Diocese and Vicar General of the same Diocese.

The holder of licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Rome-based Pontifical Biblical Institute was Consecrated Bishop in July 2004.

He served as the Apostolic Administrator of Korhogo from 2017 to January 2021 when he was appointed Local Ordinary of the same Ivorian Episcopal See.

Archbishop Dogbo was elected President of the Episcopal Conference of Ivory Coast (CECCI) in May 2017 during the 107th Plenary Assembly of the West African nation that took place in Kodjoboué (Bonoua) in the Ivorian Catholic Diocese of Grand-Bassam.

As CECCI President, Bishop Dogbo advocated for peace, dialogue, and reconciliation in Ivory Coast before, during, and after the 31 October 2020 presidential election.

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He was appointed Archbishop of Abidjan on May 20 this year and installed on August 3.

Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco

Born in Lyon in France on 10 March 1962, the Archbishop Vesco studied and practiced law before entering the Novitiate of the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans) in 1995.

He was ordained a Priest in 2001, and completed his studies in Jerusalem before traveling to Algeria in 2002.

In 2010, he was elected Provincial Superior of the Dominicans in France. In December 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of Oran Catholic Diocese in Algeria, where he was Consecrated Bishop in January 2013.

Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop of Algiers in December 2021; he was installed in February 2022.

Here is the full list of the newly named Cardinals:

• Archbishop Ignace Bessi Dogbo, Metropolitan Archbishop of Abidjan (Ivory Coast)
• Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco, O.P., Metropolitan Archbishop of Algiers (Algeria)
• Archbishop Frank Leo, metropolitan archbishop of Toronto (Canada)
• Archbishop Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi, S.V.D., metropolitan archbishop of Tokyo (Japan)
• Archbishop Dominique Joseph Mathieu, O.F.M. Conv., archbishop of Tehran-Ispahan (Iran)
• Bishop Mykola Bycok, C.Ss.R., Eparch of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne of the Ukrainians (Ukraine)
• Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., theologian 
• Father Fabio Baggio, C.S., undersecretary for the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development (Italy)
• Monsignor George Jacob Koovakad, official of the Secretariat of State and organizer of papal trips (India)
• Bishop Baldassare Reina, vicar general of the diocese of Rome (Italy)
• Archbishop Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio, metropolitan archbishop of Lima (Peru)
• Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur, O.F.M., bishop of Bogor (Indonesia)
• Archbishop Vicente Bokalic Iglic, archbishop of Santiago del Estero (Argentina)
• Archbishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, O.F.M., metropolitan archbishop of Guayaquil (Ecuador)
• Archbishop Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib, metropolitan archbishop of Santiago de Chile (Chile)
• Bishop Pablo Virgilio Siongco David, bishop of Kalookan (Philippines)
• Archbishop Laszlo Nemet, S.V.D., metropolitan archbishop of Belgrade (Serbia)
• Archbishop Jaime Spengler, O.F.M., metropolitan archbishop of Porto Alegre (Brazil)
• Archbishop Roberto Repole, metropolitan archbishop of Turin (Italy)
• Archbishop Rolandas Makrickas, coadjutor archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Lithuania)
• One of the cardinals-elect is already over 80: Archbishop Angelo Acerbi, apostolic nuncio emeritus (Italy)

In the last Consistory on 30 September 2023, the Local Ordinary of South Sudan’s Catholic Archdiocese of Juba, Stephen Cardinal Ameyu was among the three Africans created Cardinals. The other two were Protase Cardinal Rugambwa, the Local Ordinary of Tabora Archdiocese in Tanzania, and Stephen Cardinal Brislin, the Archbishop of South Africa’s Cape Town Archdiocese.

Fifteen members of the College of Cardinals have turned 80 since the last consistory, thus losing their chance to participate in a future Papal election. 

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After the December 8 Consistory, there will be 141 Cardinal electors (barring the unexpected death of any of the Cardinals) — 111 (79%) of whom have been appointed by Pope Francis.

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