Pope Benedict XVI on Friday named 22 new cardinals, with their official installation ceremony set for February 18.
They include prelates from New York, Berlin, Toronto, Prague and Kerala, India. Eighteen of the new cardinals are under the age of 80, which makes them eligible, for now, to take part in a conclave to elect a successor to the current pontiff. That right expires after their 80th birthday, DPA reported.
The Vatican website says Benedict XVI has appointed 84 cardinals since his election in 2005.
Cardinals act as advisers to the head of the 1.3-billion-member Roman Catholic Church. The February 18 ceremony to install the new cardinals is called a consistory. It will be Benedict's fourth.