Pope Benedict XVI Names 22 New Cardinals
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pope Benedict XVI named 22 new cardinals, announcing on Friday he will elevate them in a formal ceremony Feb. 18.
They include prelates from New York, Hong Kong, Berlin, Prague, Toronto and Florence, Italy, and some key Vatican offices.
The Vatican officials include a Brazilian prelate who heads the office for Consecrated Life.
Cardinals are the pope's key advisers and are members of the group that will eventually elect Benedict's successor.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Of the 22, 18 are under 80 -- raising to 125 the numbers of cardinals eligible to vote in a papal conclave.
The pope announced the names "with great joy" following an Epiphany Mass that ended the Vatican's top Christmas celebrations.
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