Vatican City: Pope Benedict, putting his stamp on the future of Roman Catholicism, named 22 new cardinals on Friday, the red-hatted "princes of the Church" who are his closest aides and will one day choose his successor.
One of the most prominent on the list is Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York. Others are from Italy, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, India, Canada, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Germany, China, Romania, Belgium, and Malta.
They include the archbishops of Toronto, Prague, Utrecht, Florence, Berlin and Hong Kong. The head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic rite in India, George Alencherry, was also elevated to cardinal.
Another new American cardinal is Edwin O'Brien, head of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a group that is a major funder of the church in the Holy Land.
Eighteen of the new cardinals are under 80, meaning they will be eligible to enter a secret conclave to elect a new pope from among their ranks after Benedict dies. The other four are over 80.
Speaking to pilgrims and tourists in St Peter's Square, the pope said he hoped the new cardinals would always be able to show their love for the Church with courage and dedication.
With the new appointments, Benedict, who was elected in a secret conclave in 2005, has now named more than half the "cardinal electors" who will be able some day to choose a new leader of the world's some 1.3 billion Roman Catholics.
Seven of the 22 named on Friday were Italian - six of them members of the Vatican's central administration and the other the archbishop of Florence.
The ceremony to install them, known as a consistory, will be held on February 18. It will be Benedict's fourth.
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