# Cardinals created by Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI (r. 2005–2013) created 90 cardinals in five consistories. With three of those consistories he respected the limit on the number of cardinal electors set at 120 in 1973, though sometimes exceeded by his predecessors. He exceeded that limit at the other two consistories, reaching as high as 125 in 2012.
With the consistory of February 2012, a majority of the cardinal electors had been named cardinals by him, 63 of 125. After his last consistory in November 2012, he had appointed 67 of the 120 electors.

## Cardinal electors

Benedict's first, second and last consistories brought the number of cardinal electors to 120.
The 2010 consistory produced 121 electors, until Cardinal Bernard Panafieu turned 80 two months later on 26 January 2011. After the consistory of February 2012, there were 125 electors, and the count returned to 120 on 26 July after the 80th birthdays of Cardinals Rodolfo Quezada Toruño, Edward Michael Egan, Miloslav Vlk, Henri Schwery, and James Francis Stafford.

## 24 March 2006

Pope Benedict XVI created new cardinals for the first time on 24 March 2006. He announced the names of fifteen new cardinals from eleven different countries on 22 February. Three belonged to the Roman Curia, nine headed a diocese, and two were bishops emeritus. One, Albert Vanhoye, was a Jesuit priest and theologian, not a bishop. Twelve of the fifteen were under 80 years old and eligible to vote in a papal conclave. With these new cardinals, Benedict limited the number of cardinal electors to 120, the maximum set by statute since 1973 and which John Paul II had at times exceeded. The appointments brought the total number of cardinals to 193.
| Name | Title when named cardinal | Country |
| William Joseph Levada (1936–2019) | Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith | United States |
| Franc Rode C.M. (b. 1934) | Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life | Slovenia |
| Agostino Vallini (b. 1940) | Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura | Italy |
| Jorge Liberato Urosa Savino (1942–2021) | Archbishop of Caracas | Venezuela |
| Gaudencio Rosales (b. 1932) | Archbishop of Manila | Philippines |
| Jean-Pierre Ricard (b. 1944) | Archbishop of Bordeaux | France |
| Antonio Cañizares Llovera (b. 1945) | Archbishop of Toledo | Spain |
| Nicolas Cheong Jin-suk (1931–2021) | Archbishop of Seoul | South Korea |
| Seán Patrick O'Malley O.F.M. Cap. (b. 1944) | Archbishop of Boston | United States |
| Stanisław Dziwisz (b. 1939) | Archbishop of Kraków | Poland |
| Carlo Caffarra (1938–2017) | Archbishop of Bologna | Italy |
| Joseph Zen Ze-kiun S.D.B. (b. 1932) | Bishop of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
| Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (1925–2017) | Archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls | Italy |
| Peter Poreku Dery (1918–2008) | Archbishop Emeritus of Tamale | Ghana |
| Albert Vanhoye S.J. (1923–2021) | Secretary Emeritus of the Pontifical Biblical Commission | France |

## 24 November 2007

Pope Benedict announced the appointment of 23 new cardinals on 17 October 2007, scheduling a consistory for 24 November. Eighteen of the 23 cardinals were under 80. After the consistory, the College of Cardinals had 201 members, of whom 120 were eligible to vote in a papal election.
He announced that he had intended to make Bishop Ignacy Jeż of Koszalin-Kołobrzeg, Poland, who died on 16 October, a cardinal as well.
| Name | Title when named cardinal | Country |
| Leonardo Sandri (b. 1943) | Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches | Argentina |
| John Patrick Foley (1935–2011) | Pro-Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem | United States |
| Giovanni Lajolo (b. 1935) | President of the Governorate of Vatican City | Italy |
| Paul Josef Cordes (1934-2024) | President of the Pontifical Council 'Cor Unum' | Germany |
| Angelo Comastri (b. 1943) | Vicar General for Vatican City | Italy |
| Stanisław Ryłko (b. 1945) | President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity | Poland |
| Raffaele Farina S.D.B. (b. 1933) | Librarian of the Vatican Apostolic Library & Archivist of the Vatican Secret Archives | Italy |
| Agustín García-Gasco Vicente (1931–2011) | Archbishop of Valencia | Spain |
| Seán Baptist Brady (b. 1939) | Archbishop of Armagh | Ireland |
| Lluís Martínez Sistach (b. 1937) | Archbishop of Barcelona | Spain |
| André Vingt-Trois (b. 1942) | Archbishop of Paris | France |
| Angelo Bagnasco (b. 1943) | Archbishop of Genoa | Italy |
| Théodore-Adrien Sarr (b. 1936) | Archbishop of Dakar | Senegal |
| Oswald Gracias (b. 1944) | Archbishop of Bombay | India |
| Francisco Robles Ortega (b. 1949) | Archbishop of Monterrey | Mexico |
| Daniel Nicholas DiNardo (b. 1949) | Archbishop of Galveston–Houston | United States |
| Odilo Scherer (b. 1949) | Archbishop of São Paulo | Brazil |
| John Njue (b. 1946) | Archbishop of Nairobi | Kenya |
| Emmanuel III Delly (1927–2014) | Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans | Iraq |
| Giovanni Coppa (1925–2016) | Assessor for General Affairs Emeritus of the Secretariat of State | Italy |
| Estanislao Esteban Karlic (b. 1926) | Archbishop Emeritus of Paraná | Argentina |
| Urbano Navarrete Cortés S.J. (1920–2010) | Rector Magnificus Emeritus of the Pontifical Gregorian University | Spain |
| Umberto Betti O.F.M. (1922–2009) | Rector Magnificus Emeritus of the Pontifical Lateran University | Italy |

## 20 November 2010

Benedict announced the names of 24 new cardinals on 10 October 2010, scheduling a consistory for 20 November. Fifteen were Europeans, including ten Italians, seven of whom were senior members of the Roman Curia. Twenty were under 80 years old. This consistory brought the number of cardinals to 203, of whom 121 were eligible to vote in a conclave.
| Name | Title when named cardinal | Country |
| Angelo Amato (1938–2024) | Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints | Italy |
| Antonios Naguib (1935–2022) | Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts | Egypt |
| Robert Sarah (b. 1945) | President of the Pontifical Council 'Cor Unum' | Guinea |
| Francesco Monterisi (b. 1934) | Archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls | Italy |
| Fortunato Baldelli (1935–2012) | Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary | Italy |
| Raymond Leo Burke (b. 1948) | Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura | United States |
| Kurt Koch (b. 1950) | President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity | Switzerland |
| Paolo Sardi (1934–2019) | Pro-Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta | Italy |
| Mauro Piacenza (b. 1944) | Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy | Italy |
| Velasio de Paolis (1935–2017) | President of the Prefecture of the Economic Affairs of the Holy See | Italy |
| Gianfranco Ravasi (b. 1942) | President of the Pontifical Council for Culture | Italy |
| Medardo Joseph Mazombwe (1931–2013) | Archbishop Emeritus of Lusaka | Zambia |
| Raúl Eduardo Vela Chiriboga (1934–2020) | Archbishop Emeritus of Quito | Ecuador |
| Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya (1939–2021) | Archbishop of Kinshasa | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Paolo Romeo (b. 1938) | Archbishop of Palermo | Italy |
| Donald William Wuerl (b. 1940) | Archbishop of Washington | United States |
| Raymundo Damasceno Assis (b. 1937) | Archbishop of Aparecida | Brazil |
| Kazimierz Nycz (b. 1950) | Archbishop of Warsaw | Poland |
| Malcolm Ranjith (b. 1947) | Archbishop of Colombo | Sri Lanka |
| Reinhard Marx (b. 1953) | Archbishop of Munich and Freising | Germany |
| José Manuel Estepa Llaurens (1926–2019) | Military Ordinary Emeritus of Spain | Spain |
| Elio Sgreccia (1928–2019) | President Emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life | Italy |
| Walter Brandmüller (b. 1929) | President Emeritus of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences | Germany |
| Domenico Bartolucci (1917–2013) | Director Master Emeritus of the Pontifical Musical Chorus | Italy |

## 18 February 2012

Benedict announced the names of 22 new cardinals on 6 January 2012, with a consistory set for 18 February. Eighteen were young enough to be cardinal electors. Sixteen were Europeans, including seven Italians. Ten held Vatican offices. With these additions, the number of cardinal electors increased from 107 to 125, a majority of 63 of them named by Benedict. Though the number of cardinal electors exceeded the limit of 120, nine of them were due to turn eighty before the end of the year. Previously, only Pope John Paul II's consistories in 2001 and 2003 had produced a larger number of electors, 135. The consistory of February 2012 brought the total number of cardinals to 213.
| Name | Title when named Cardinal | Country |
| Fernando Filoni (b. 1946) | Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples | Italy |
| Manuel Monteiro de Castro (b. 1938) | Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary | Portugal |
| Santos Abril y Castelló (b. 1935) | Archpriest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore | Spain |
| Antonio Maria Vegliò (b. 1938) | President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People | Italy |
| Giuseppe Bertello (b. 1942) | President of the Governorate of Vatican City | Italy |
| Francesco Coccopalmerio (b. 1938) | President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts | Italy |
| João Braz de Aviz (b. 1947) | Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life | Brazil |
| Edwin Frederick O'Brien (b. 1939) | Pro-Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem | United States |
| Domenico Calcagno (b. 1943) | President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See | Italy |
| Giuseppe Versaldi (b. 1943) | President of the Prefecture of Economic Affairs of the Holy See | Italy |
| George Alencherry (b. 1945) | Major Archbishop of Ernakulam–Angamaly | India |
| Thomas Christopher Collins (b. 1947) | Archbishop of Toronto | Canada |
| Dominik Duka O.P. (b. 1943) | Archbishop of Prague | Czech Republic |
| Wim Jacobus Eijk (b. 1953) | Archbishop of Utrecht | Netherlands |
| Giuseppe Betori (b. 1947) | Archbishop of Florence | Italy |
| Timothy Michael Dolan (b. 1950) | Archbishop of New York | United States |
| Rainer Woelki (b. 1956) | Archbishop of Berlin | Germany |
| John Tong Hon (b. 1939) | Bishop of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
| Lucian Mureșan (b. 1931) | Major Archbishop of Făgăraș and Alba Iulia | Romania |
| Julien Ries (1920–2013) | Priest from the Diocese of Namur | Belgium |
| Prosper Grech O.S.A. (1925–2019) | Consultor for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith | Malta |
| Karl Josef Becker S.J. (1928–2015) | Consultor for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith | Germany |

## 24 November 2012

On 24 October 2012, during a meeting of the Synod of Bishops, Benedict announced he would create six cardinals at a consistory on 24 November. At the time, there were 116 cardinal electors, with two set to turn 80 in the next month. The six new cardinals would bring that number to 120, 67 of whom were made cardinals by Benedict. The November consistory brought the total number of cardinals to 211. Those named contrasted with those of the previous consistory, who had been criticized as "too Italian and too curial". Benedict said that "this little consistory" was meant to "complete" the earlier one "with a sign of the universality of the Church".
| Name | Title when named cardinal | Country |
| James Michael Harvey (b. 1949) | Prefect of the Prefecture of the Papal Household | United States |
| Bechara Boutros al-Rahi O.M.M. (b. 1940) | Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites | Lebanon |
| Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal (b. 1959) | Major Archbishop of Trivandrum | India |
| John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan (b. 1944) | Archbishop of Abuja | Nigeria |
| Rubén Salazar Gómez (b. 1942) | Archbishop of Bogotá | Colombia |
| Luis Antonio Tagle (b. 1957) | Archbishop of Manila | Philippines |