John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja named Cardinal

Vatican City, October 24 – Pope Benedict XVI is to
name six new cardinals, Benedict said in an unexpected move
during his general audience Wednesday.
There are no Italians among the six, reversing a recent
trend towards upping the number of Italians among the prelates
who will elect Benedict’s successor.
The new high-ranking Church officials, in their current
roles, are: James Michael Harvey, Prefect of the Pontifical
House; Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, Syriac Maronite Patriarch of
Antioch; Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis, Major Archbishop of
Trivandrum, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, India; John
Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja in Nigeria; Jesus
Ruben Salazar Gomez, Archbishop of Bogota; and Luis Antonio
“Chito” Gokim Tagle, Archbishop of Manila in the Philippines.
The pontiff said Harvey, an American, was “in mind as
archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls”.
They are to be officially appointed to their new role at a
November 24 consistory.
Following the death of Cardinal Fortunato Baldelli on
September 20, the College of Cardinals has been made up of 116
members eligible to vote in a conclave for a successor to
Benedict.
His predecessor, John Paul II, named 55 of them, while
Benedict named 61.
An additional 89 cardinals cannot vote because they are too
old.