Francis to create his first cardinals in February

The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Francis will create his first group of cardinals at a consistory on 22 February, the Feast of the Chair of St Peter, writes Robert Mickens.

Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, the head of the Holy See press office, made the announcement on 31 October, just a day after the French news agency I.Media broke the story.

He said Francis had already disclosed his plans for the February consistory during meetings early last month with his Council of Cardinals and the Council of the Synod.

It is unprecedented for a consistory to be called so far in advance, in this case four months ahead of time. Popes generally announce the ceremony and the names of the new cardinals about four to five weeks before the event. Pope Francis has not yet published the names of the new cardinals. Current legislation limits the number of cardinals eligible to vote in a conclave to 120 under the age of 80. By the February consistory Francis will be able to create 14 new cardinals to top up to that number. He is likely to create two more to replace those turning 80 soon afterwards.