17 new Cardinals

Cardinal-elect Father Ernest Simoni of Albania

Pope Francis will conclude the Year of Mercy by creating 17 new cardinals. Announcing the names of the new cardinals Oct. 9, Pope Francis said, "Their coming from 11 nations expresses the universality of the church that proclaims and witnesses the good news of God's mercy in every corner of the earth."

The new cardinals -- 13 of whom are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope and four over 80 being honored for their "clear Christian witness" -- will be inducted into the College of Cardinals Nov. 19, the eve of the close of the Year of Mercy.

The next day, Nov. 20, they will join Pope Francis and other cardinals in celebrating the feast of Christ the King and closing the Year of Mercy, the pope said.

The first of the new cardinals announced by the pope was Archbishop Mario Zenari, who, the pope explained, "will remain apostolic nuncio to the beloved and martyred Syria."

The last of the cardinals he named was Albanian Father Ernest Simoni, a priest of the Archdiocese of Shkodre-Pult, who will turn 88 Oct. 18. He had moved Pope Francis to tears in 2014 when he spoke about his 30 years in prison or forced labor under Albania's militant atheistic regime.

Ordained in 1956, he was arrested on Christmas Eve 1963 while celebrating Mass and was sentenced to death by firing squad. He was beaten, placed for three months in solitary confinement, and then tortured because he refused to denounce the church.

He was eventually freed, but later arrested again and sent to a prison camp, where he was forced to work in a mine for 18 years and then 10 more years in sewage canals.

Cardinals at the Conclave in the Sistine chapel

In creating 13 cardinal-electors -- those under the age of 80 -- Pope Francis will exceed by one the 120 cardinal-elector limit set by Blessed Paul VI.

The 17 new cardinals announced by Pope Francis yesterday are:

-- Dieudonne Nzapalainga of Bangui, Central African Republic.

-- Archbishop Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio to Syria.

-- Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid.

-- Archbishop Sergio da Rocha of Brasilia, Brazil.

-- Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago.

-- Bishop Kevin J. Farrell, prefect of the new Vatican office for laity, family and life.

-- Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin of Indianapolis.

-- Archbishop Patrick D'Rozario of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

-- Archbishop Baltazar Porras Cardozo of Merida, Venezuela.

-- Archbishop Jozef De Kesel of Malines-Brussels, Belgium.

-- Archbishop Maurice Piat of Port-Louis, Mauritius.

-- Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla, Mexico.

-- Archbishop John Ribat of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

-- Retired Archbishop Anthony Soter Fernandez of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

-- Retired Archbishop Renato Corti of Novara, Italy.

-- Retired Bishop Sebastian Koto Khoarai of Mohale's Hoek, Lesotho.

-- Father Ernest Simoni, a priest of the Archdiocese of Shkodre-Pult, Albania.

PS: If anyone wants to e-mail me directly: dungiljan@gmail.com