Meet The Catholic Church’s New Cardinals From The Americas

Archbishop Sergio da Rocha of Brazil.

By NAN Contributor

News Americas, LONDON, England, Tues. Oct. 111, 2016: On Sunday, Sept. 9th, Pope Francis announced he will appoint 17 new cardinals of the Catholic Church this November – including three from Americas. They include:

Archbishop Sergio da Rocha of Brazil

Archbishop Sergio da Rocha has been the current archbishop of Brasília since June 2011. He had previously served as archbishop of Teresina. The archbishop was born in Dobrada, Diocese of Jaboticabal, State of São Paulo in 1959. He was ordained as a priest in 1984 and served in the Diocese of São Carlos. In 2001, he was appointed Titular Bishop of Alba and Auxiliary Bishop of Fortaleza by Pope John Paul II.

Archbishop Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo of Merida, Venezuela

Archbishop Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo of Merida, Venezuela.

Archbishop Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo is the current archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mérida after being appointed on October 31, 1991. He was ordained a priest on July 30, 1967 and became an auxiliary bishop of Mérida on July 23, 1983. He is also the First Vice President of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference and is 77.

Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla, Mexico

Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla, Mexico.

Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes has served as Archbishop of Tlalnepantla, Mexico since 2009. He currently also serves as the President of the Mexican Episcopal Conference. He was born on January 9, 1950 in Tepic, Nayarit, in a very devout family that included six children. He was ordained as a priest on April 22, 1973 and said his first Mass in the Parish of San Jose, Diocese of Tepic, the same day. He became a Bishop in 1997.

The cardinals are eligible to succeed him one day as they are all under 80. Cardinals, who wear red hats and are known as “princes of the Church,” are the most senior members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy after the pope and serve as his principal advisers around the world and in the Vatican.