15 NEW CATHOLIC CARDINALS NAMED BY POPE FRANCIS

Pope Francis has named 15 new cardinals, selecting them from 14 nations including far-flung corners of the world such as Tonga, New Zealand, Cape Verde and Myanmar to reflect the diversity of the church and its growth in places like Asia and Africa compared to affluent regions.

According to the Independent reporters.....Rome :If any other pope had produced a list of newly designated cardinals similar to the one Pope Francis unveiled Sunday, the reaction would have been shock and disbelief.

Instead, there was only momentary surprise.Cardinals for the first time in ecclesiastical backwaters such as Tonga, Myanmar, Panama and Cape Verde? Only one Roman Curia official on the list? Still not a single American named by Pope Francis? And two of Italy's traditional "cardinal sees," Turin and Venice, snubbed for Ancona and Agrigento, places that haven't been by led by a prelate with a red hat in 100 years?
Welcome to the Era of Francis. The 78-year-old Jesuit pope announced the names of 15 new cardinal-electors and five other non-voters over the age of 80 who will become cardinals Feb. 14 at the Vatican.
His choices belie a preference for those on the peripheries and the men who pastor them, those who are on the margins of the church and society.
The new cardinals are:

Archbishop Dominique Mamberti (France)

Archbishop Manuel Jose Macario do Nascimento Clemente (Portugal)

Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel (Ethiopia)

Archbishop John Atcherley Dew (New Zealand)

Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli (Italy)

Archbishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon (Vietnam)

Archbishop Alberto Suarez Inda (Mexico)

Archbishop Charles Maung Bo (Myanmar)

Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij (Thailand)

Archbishop Francesco Montenegro (Italy)

Archbishop Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet (Uruguay)

Archbishop Ricardo Blazquez Perez (Spain)

Bishop Jose Luis Lacunza Maestro Juan (Panama)

Bishop Arlindo Gomes Furtado (Capo Verde)

Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi (Tonga)

Way to go Pope........ Good news for Africa as we have new cardinals from our continent!!!!