POPE APPOINTS 24 CARDINALS, 10 OF WHICH ITALIAN

Pope Benedict XVI today announced the ordaining of 24 new cardinals at close of today’s General Audience. Ten are Italian, eight of which under the age of 80 and, hence, holding Conclave voting rights; significantly, the appointment of eight voting cardinals exceeds pope Paul VI’s 120 cap by a total of two (two of them, however, are close to hitting the age of 80). The cardinals are Angelo Amato, Mauro Piacenza, Fortunato Baldelli, Velasio De Paolis, Francesco Monterisi, Gianfranco Ravasi, Paolo Sardi, and the archbishop of Palermo, Paolo Romeo. The archbihops of Turin and Florence, Cesare Nosiglia and Giuseppe Betori respectively, will be kept on hold until their predecessors hit the age of 80. The over-80s also include bioethics expert Elio Sgreccia and musician Domenico Bartolucci.