Two Indian churchmen elevated to cardinals by Pope

Two Indian churchmen - Archbishop Filipe Neri Antonio Sebastiao di Rosario Ferrao (Goa and Damao) and Archbishop Anthony Poola (Hyderabad) - will be elevated to the rank of Cardinal in August.

Pope Francis announced that the ceremony, a Consistory for the creation of new cardinals, will be held on August 27, reported the official Vatican News. He was speaking after the Regina Coeli on Sunday.

Father Ferrao is a native of Goa. He was born in Aldona village near Panaji on January 20, 1953. After starting his religious studies in the Seminary of Our Lady in Saligao he went to the Papal Seminary in Pune. He graduated in Philosophy and Theology. The soon-to-be cardinal is fluent in Konkani, English, Portuguese, Italian, French, and German. He was consecrated as Archbishop of Goa and Daman in 2003.

Hyderabad Archbishop Poola Anthony will be the first Telugu in the history of the Catholic Church to be given the title of Cardinal. He is a native of the Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh. He was ordained as a priest in February 1992 and was appointed as the Archbishop of Hyderabad in 2021.

The Pope has named 21 new Cardinals - eight from Europe, six from Asia, two from Africa, one from North America, and four from Central and Latin America. The ceremony will be followed by a meeting with all the cardinals to reflect on the new Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium. The Pope will be meeting them on August 29 and 30.

The College of Cardinals currently has 208 Cardinals. 117 are electors and 91 are non-electors. After the addition of new churchmen, the College will grow to 229 Cardinals with 131 electors. Cardinals are Catholic Church's most senior officials and Popes are chosen by the College of Cardinals.