List of current cardinals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cardinals are senior members of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome. They are typically ordained bishops and generally hold important roles within the church, such as leading prominent archdioceses or heading dicasteries within the Roman Curia. Cardinals are chosen by the pope and formally created in a consistory, and one of their foremost duties is the election of a new pope – invariably from among their number, although not strictly a requirement – when the Holy See is vacant (sede vacante), following the death or resignation of a pope. Collectively, they constitute the College of Cardinals.[1][2]
Under current ecclesiastical law, as defined by the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis (1996), only cardinals who have not passed their 80th birthdays on the day on which the Holy See becomes vacant are eligible to take part in a papal conclave to elect a new pope.[3] The same apostolic constitution specifies that no more than 120 cardinals may take part in a conclave, but makes no provision for there being more than 120 eligible cardinal electors,[3] a number that has often been exceeded.[4] Cardinals may be created in pectore (lit. 'in the breast'), in which case the pope does not reveal their identities; they are not entitled to the privileges of a cardinal until their names are published by the pope. The creations of any such cardinals whose names have not been revealed before the pope's death or resignation automatically lapse.[1][5]
As of 3 August 2026,[update] there are 240 cardinals, 116 of whom are cardinal electors. The most recent consistory for the creation of cardinals was held on 7 December 2024, when Pope Francis created 21 cardinals, including 20 cardinal electors.[6] Michael Czerny was the most recent cardinal elector to turn 80, on 18 July 2026. Thomas Collins will be the next cardinal elector to turn 80, on 16 January 2027. The most recent death of a cardinal was that of Júlio Duarte Langa on 3 August 2026, at the age of 98.[7]
Orders of the College of Cardinals, and order of precedence
The College of Cardinals is divided into three orders, with formal precedence in the following sequence:[1]
- Cardinal bishops (CB): six cardinals who are chosen by the pope to be titular bishops of the seven suburbicarian dioceses in the vicinity of Rome, plus a few additional cardinals who have been exceptionally "co-opted" as cardinal bishops,[8][9] as well as patriarchs who lead one of the Eastern Catholic Churches.[a][11][12] The two most senior cardinal bishops, who are elected by the cardinal bishops (excluding the Eastern Catholic patriarchs) from among themselves with papal approval, are the dean and the vice dean,[1] currently Giovanni Battista Re and Leonardo Sandri, respectively. Among the cardinal electors, the senior cardinal bishop is currently Pietro Parolin.[b]
- Cardinal priests (CP): bishops and archbishops, typically in charge of dioceses around the world, as well as former cardinal deacons who have opted to be elevated to become cardinal priests.[13] The most senior cardinal priest is the protopriest, currently Michael Michai Kitbunchu; among the cardinal electors, the senior cardinal priest is currently Peter Turkson.[b]
- Cardinal deacons (CD): bishops and archbishops who work in the Roman Curia or the diplomatic service of the Holy See, and all other clergy, including priests who have been granted a dispensation from the normal requirement that a person must be consecrated a bishop before becoming a cardinal. A cardinal deacon may opt (Latin: optatio) to become a cardinal priest after having served as a cardinal deacon for ten years.[1][14] The most senior cardinal deacon is the protodeacon, currently Dominique Mamberti; he is also the senior cardinal deacon among the cardinal electors. The junior cardinal deacon is currently George Koovakad;[b] he is also the junior cardinal deacon among the electors.
For cardinal bishops (excluding the Eastern Catholic patriarchs), the dean is first in precedence, followed by the vice dean and then, in order of appointment as cardinal bishops, by the remainder. For cardinal bishops who are Eastern Catholic patriarchs, for cardinal priests and for cardinal deacons, precedence is determined by the date of the consistory in which they were created cardinals and then by the order in which they appeared in the official announcement or bulletin.
All cardinals listed are members of the Latin Church unless otherwise stated. Cardinals belonging to institutes of consecrated life or societies of apostolic life are indicated by the relevant post-nominal letters. Cardinals in pastoral ministry are classified under the country in which their respective dioceses are located, although they may be citizens of another country.
Cardinals: listed in order of precedence
Demographics of the College of Cardinals
As of 3 August 2026,[update] 116 of 240 cardinals are eligible to participate in a papal conclave. The current threshold number of votes needed to be elected pope with the required two-thirds supermajority is 78, assuming that all 116 cardinal electors were to participate in a conclave.[3][241]
Cardinals by appointing pope
This table indicates the number of current cardinals created by each pope and belonging to each order of the college.
| Pope | All cardinals | Cardinal electors | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | CB | CP | CD | Total | CB | CP | CD | Total |
| 264 | John Paul II (1978–2005) |
5 | 33 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 265 | Benedict XVI (2005–2013) |
4 | 54 | 0 | 58 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 17 |
| 266 | Francis (2013–2025) |
3 | 109 | 32 | 144 | 2 | 78 | 15 | 95 |
| Total | 12 | 196 | 32 | 240 | 3 | 98 | 15 | 116 | |
Cardinals by particular church sui iuris
While most cardinals belong to the Latin Church, which encompasses the vast majority of Catholics, a small number of cardinals belong to one of the twenty-three autonomous (sui iuris) Eastern Catholic Churches. At present, there are seven Eastern Catholic cardinals, including five cardinal electors, belonging to six particular churches sui iuris:
- Bechara Boutros al-Rahi (Maronite Church)
- Louis Raphaël I Sako (Chaldean Church), cardinal elector
- George Alencherry (Syro-Malabar Church)
- Baselios Cleemis (Syro-Malankara Church), cardinal elector
- Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel (Ethiopian Church), cardinal elector
- Mykola Bychok (Ukrainian Church), cardinal elector
- George Koovakad (Syro-Malabar Church), cardinal elector
| Particular church sui iuris | All cardinals | Cardinal electors | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Latin Church (Western) | 233 | 111 | |
| Eastern Churches | Chaldean Church | 1 | 1 |
| Ethiopian Church | 1 | 1 | |
| Maronite Church | 1 | 0 | |
| Syro-Malabar Church | 2 | 1 | |
| Syro-Malankara Church | 1 | 1 | |
| Ukrainian Church | 1 | 1 | |
| Subtotal | 7 | 5 | |
| Total | 240 | 116 | |
Cardinals by institute of consecrated life or society of apostolic life
At present, there are 63 cardinals, including 31 cardinal electors, who are members of the religious life, representing 27 institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life. In this table, the common name for the members of an institute or society, if different from its formal name, is given in brackets.
Cardinals by continent
For the purposes of this article, countries are grouped into continents generally according to the regions of the United Nations geoscheme; for the region of the Americas, North America comprises the subregions of Northern America, Central America and the Caribbean, while South America comprises the remaining subregion of the same name.[242] The statistics for the global distribution of Catholics in the table below are sourced from the 2024 edition[update] of the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae (Statistical Yearbook of the Church), published in 2026.[243]
| Continent | All cardinals | Cardinal electors | Percentage of global Catholic population (2024) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | ||
| Africa | 27 | 11.3% | 14 | 12.1% | 20.3% |
| North America | 35 | 14.6% | 18 | 15.5% | 20.3% |
| South America | 30 | 12.5% | 17 | 14.7% | 27.4% |
| Asia | 36 | 15.0% | 22 | 19.0% | 11.0% |
| Europe | 108 | 45.0% | 41 | 35.3% | 20.1% |
| Oceania | 4 | 1.7% | 4 | 3.4% | 0.9% |
| Total | 240 | 100.0% | 116 | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Cardinals by country
At present, 91 countries are represented in the College of Cardinals, including 66 with at least one cardinal elector. The countries with the greatest numbers of cardinals are Italy (49), the United States (16), and Spain (13). Among the cardinal electors, the countries with the greatest numbers are Italy (14), the United States (9), and Brazil (7).
See also
Notes
- Each cardinal bishop is titularly assigned to one of the seven suburbicarian dioceses, with the exception of the dean of the College of Cardinals, who is the titular bishop of the Suburbicarian Diocese of Ostia ex officio, in addition to his original suburbicarian diocese when first appointed a cardinal bishop. "Co-opted" cardinal bishops and Eastern Catholic patriarchs are not assigned to a suburbicarian diocese.[1][10][11]
- Among the cardinal electors, the senior cardinal bishop, the senior cardinal priest, the senior cardinal deacon and the junior cardinal deacon have specific roles in a papal conclave, such as presiding over the conclave itself (the senior cardinal bishop) or announcing the election of the pope (the senior cardinal deacon).[3]
- Since 9 May 2025, this office in the Roman Curia has been exercised provisionally following the election of Pope Leo XIV.[21]
- Schönborn was born to a Sudeten German family in the Sudetenland (in the present-day Czech Republic), then part of Nazi Germany. His family was later expelled from Czechoslovakia to Austria, and he served as a bishop there from 1991 to 2025.
- Pujats was originally created a cardinal in pectore and formally revealed on 21 February 2001.
- Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China.
- Brady's territorial jurisdiction as Archbishop of Armagh included a part of the United Kingdom.
- Ezzati was born in Italy, emigrated to Chile as a young man, and served as a bishop there from 1996 to 2019.
- Ouédraogo's actual date of birth is unknown. In the 2024 edition of the Annuario Pontificio, the annual directory of the Holy See, his birth date was revised from 25 January 1945 to 31 December, a placeholder date used by the Burkina Faso government. Ouédraogo adopted 25 January as his date of birth "at random" to enrol in a health-insurance programme in 1973.[128]
- Lacunza Maestrojuán was born in Spain and served as a bishop in Panama from 1985 to 2024.
- López Romero was born in Spain and has served as a bishop in Morocco since 2018.
- Aós Braco was born in Spain and served as a bishop in Chile from 2014 to 2023.
- Marengo was born in Italy and has served as a bishop in Mongolia since 2020.
- The jurisdiction of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, based in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City in East Jerusalem, is multinational and encompasses Cyprus, Jordan, Israel and Palestine. In its statistical report of the College of Cardinals, the Holy See Press Office lists Pizzaballa's country as "Jerusalem".[244] Pizzaballa was born in Italy and has served as a bishop in Jerusalem since 2016.
- Bustillo was born in Spain and has served as a bishop in France since 2021.
- Nemet was born in Serbia into an ethnically Hungarian family and describes himself as Hungarian. He has worked in Serbia since 2008.
- Vesco was born in France and has served as a bishop in Algeria since 2012.
- Mathieu was born in Belgium and has served as a bishop in Iran since 2021.
- Bychok was born in Ukraine and has served as a bishop in Australia since 2020.
- Farrell was born in Ireland, was incardinated as a priest in the United States in 1984 and served as a bishop there from 2001 to 2016.
- Granted dispensation not to receive episcopal consecration
- Czerny was born in Czechoslovakia (in the present-day Czech Republic) and emigrated to Canada as a child.
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; became a cardinal priest on 19 May 2018 and co-opted as a cardinal bishop on 28 June 2018
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; became a cardinal priest on 29 January 1996 and appointed a cardinal bishop on 25 April 2005
- Originally created a cardinal priest; appointed a cardinal bishop on 10 May 2008
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; appointed a cardinal bishop on 24 February 2009
- Originally created a cardinal priest; co-opted as a cardinal bishop on 28 June 2018
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; co-opted as a cardinal bishop on 28 June 2018
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; appointed a cardinal bishop on 1 May 2020
- Originally created a cardinal priest; co-opted as a cardinal bishop on 1 May 2020
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; became a cardinal priest on 29 January 1996
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; became a cardinal priest on 1 March 2008
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; became a cardinal priest on 20 May 2006
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; became a cardinal priest on 21 February 2011
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; became a cardinal priest on 12 June 2014
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; became a cardinal priest on 20 June 2016
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; became a cardinal priest on 19 May 2018
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; became a cardinal priest on 3 May 2021
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; became a cardinal priest on 4 March 2022
- Originally created a cardinal deacon; became a cardinal priest on 1 July 2024
