A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. They are titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, thereby serving as the primary advisors to the Bishop of Rome. Cardinals are created by the pope and typically hold the title for life. Collectively, they constitute the College of Cardinals. The most solemn responsibility of the cardinals is to elect a new pope in a conclave, almost always from among themselves, when the Holy See is vacant. During the period between a pope's death or resignation and the election of his successor, the day-to-day governance of the Holy See is in the hands of the College of Cardinals. The right to participate in a conclave is limited to cardinals who have not reached the age of 80 years by the day the vacancy occurs. In addition, cardinals collectively participate in papal consistories, in which matters of importance to the Church are considered and new cardinals may be created. Cardinals of working age are also appointed to roles overseeing dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the central administration of the Catholic Church.
Angelo Raffaele Sodano, GCC was an Italian Catholic prelate and from 1991 onward a cardinal. He was the Dean of the College of Cardinals from 2005 to 2019 and Cardinal Secretary of State from 1991 to 2006; Sodano was the first person since 1828 to serve simultaneously as Dean and Secretary of State.
Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão is an Indian Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Goa and Daman since 2004. He was previously an auxiliary bishop of the same archdiocese from 1993 to 2004. Ferrão was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2022.
In the Catholic Church, a titular church is a church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the clergy who is created a cardinal. These are Catholic churches in the city, within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Rome, that serve as honorary designations symbolising the relationship of cardinals to the pope, the bishop of Rome. According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, a cardinal may assist his titular church through counsel or through patronage, although "he has no power of governance over it, and he should not for any reason interfere in matters concerning the administration of its good, or its discipline, or the service of the church".
Crescenzio Sepe is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Naples from 2006 to 2020. He served in the Roman Curia as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2001 to 2006. He was made a cardinal in 2001. Before that he spent 25 years in increasingly important positions in the Roman Curia.
Maximos IV Sayegh was a Syrian Catholic prelate who served as Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalem in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1947 until his death in 1967. One of the fathers of Second Vatican Council, he stirred attendees by urging reconciliation between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. He accepted the title of cardinal in 1965 after Pope Paul VI clarified the significance of that title in the case of an Eastern patriarch.
Patabendige Albert Malcolm Ranjith, is a Sri Lankan Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Colombo since 2009. He was made a cardinal in 2010.
Giuseppe Bertello is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal since 2012, who was President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governorate of Vatican City State from October 2011 to October 2021. He worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1971 to 2011; became an archbishop in 1987; held appointments as Nuncio to several countries, including Rwanda, Mexico, and Italy; and was the Holy See's representative to a number of international organizations.
The Diocese of Rome, also called the Vicariate of Rome, is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church under the direct jurisdiction of the Pope, who is Bishop of Rome and hence the supreme pontiff and head of the worldwide Catholic Church. As the Holy See, the papacy is a sovereign entity with diplomatic relations, and civil jurisdiction over the Vatican City State located geographically within Rome. The Diocese of Rome is the metropolitan diocese of the province of Rome, an ecclesiastical province in Italy. According to Catholic tradition, the first bishop of Rome was Saint Peter in the first century. The incumbent since 13 March 2013 is Pope Francis.
Raúl Eduardo Vela Chiriboga was an Ecuadorian prelate of the Catholic Church who was the Archbishop of Quito from 2003 to 2010. He became a bishop coadjutor in 1972 and served as an auxiliary in Guayaquil, Bishop of Azogues, and Military Ordinary of Ecuador before his appointment in Quito. Pope Benedict XVI raised him to the rank of cardinal in 2010.
Jesús Rubén Darío Salazar Gómez is a Colombian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Metropolitan Archbishop of Bogotá from 2010 to 2020. He was made a cardinal in 2012. He was Metropolitan Archbishop of Barranquilla from 1999 to 2010.
Gianfranco Ghirlanda is an Italian Catholic cardinal whose career has been closely associated with the Pontifical Gregorian University where he has taught since 1975, served as dean of the Faculty of Canon Law from 1995 to 2004, and led as rector from 2004 to 2010.
Beniamino Stella is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy from 2013 to 2021; he has been a cardinal since 2014. He began working in the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1970, was made an archbishop in 1987, and served as a nuncio in several countries between 1987 and 2007. He led the Vatican's training program for its diplomats, the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, from 2007 to 2013.
Chibly Langlois is a Haitian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He has served as Bishop of Les Cayes since 15 August 2011, and is also president of Haiti’s Bishops’ Conference.
Philippe Nakellentuba Ouédraogo is a Burkinabé retired prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Ouagadougou from 2009 to 2023. He has been a cardinal since 2014. He was previously Bishop of Ouahigouya from 1996 to 2009.
Fernando Vérgez AlzagaL.C. is a Spanish and Vatican prelate of the Catholic Church who has been President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governorate of Vatican City State since 1 October 2021. He was Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City State from 2013 to 2021 and before that director of the Vatican City State Telecommunications Directorate.
Giorgio Marengo, I.M.C. is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. Created a cardinal by Pope Francis on 27 August 2022, he has been the Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, a missionary jurisdiction that covers the entire country of Mongolia, since 2 April 2020.
Leonardo Ulrich Steiner is a Brazilian Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Manaus since 2020. A member of the Order of Friars Minor since 1976 and a bishop since 2005, he was an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Brasília from 2011 to 2019.
Fortunato Frezza is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who devoted his career to Biblical scholarship and teaching. He has been a canon of St. Peter's Basilica since 2013.
