As Pope Francis announces he will create 21 new Cardinals, we offer a brief biography of each of the future Cardinals who will be given ‘red hats’ on 30 September 2023.
Here are brief biographies of the Church’s future cardinals.
Archbishop Robert Francis Prevost, 67, was born in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on 14 September 1955. He entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (OSA) in 1977, in the province of Our Lady of Good Counsel in St. Louis, and made his solemn vows on 29 August 1981. He studied at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, graduating with a degree in Theology. In 1988 he was sent to the mission of Trujillo as director of the common formation project for Augustinian aspirants from the Vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos, and Apurímac. There he served as community prior (1988-1992), formation director (1988-1998), and teacher of the professed (1992-1998). In the Archdiocese of Trujillo, he was judicial vicar (1989-1998), and professor of Canon Law, Patristics, and Morals in the San Carlos e San Marcelo Major Seminary. In 1999 he was elected prior provincial of the “Mother of Good Counsel” Province. After two and a half years, the Ordinary General Chapter elected him prior general, a ministry the Order entrusted to him again at the 2007 Ordinary General Chapter. On 3 November 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo and on 7 November he was installed in the diocese. He was ordained Bishop of Chiclayo on 12 December 2014. On 15 April 2020, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Callao. And in 2023. Pope Francis appointed him a Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.
Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti was born in Verona in 1955, Archbishop Gugerotti joined the Pius Society of Don Nicola Mazza and was ordained a priest in 1982. At the Ca’ Foscari University in Venice he received a degree in Oriental Languages and Literature, as well as a licentiate in liturgy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Sant’Anselmo and a doctorate in Oriental Ecclesiastical Sciences at the Pontifical Oriental Institute. Archbishop Gugerotti worked at the Congregation for Oriental Churches, starting in 1985. In 1997 Saint Pope John Paul II appointed him undersecretary of the Congregation. He was appointed an archbishop in 2002 and became Apostolic Nuncio of various countries where various Eastern Churches are located: 2002 in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan; 2011 in Belarus; 2020 in Ukraine in 2015 and in 2020 in Great Britain. He has been Prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches since January 2023.
Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández was born on 18 July 1962 in Alcira Gigena, in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. He was ordained a priest on 15 August 1986 for the diocese of Villa de la Concepción del Río Cuarto, Argentina. He was awarded a licentiate in theology with biblical specialization from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and subsequently a doctorate in theology from the Faculty of Theology of Buenos Aires. From 1993 to 2000 he was parish priest of Santa Teresita in Río Cuarto, Córdoba. He was the founder and director of the Institute for Lay Formation and the Jesús Buen Pastor Formation Centre for Teachers in the same city. In his diocese he was also a seminary formator, director for ecumenism and director for catechesis. In 2007 he participated in the Fifth Conference of Latin American Bishops (Aparecida) as a priest representing Argentina and later as a member of the drafting group for the final document. From 2008 to 2009 he was dean of the Faculty of Theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina and president of the Argentine Theological Society. From 2009 to 2018 he was rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina. On 13 May 2013 he was appointed archbishop by Pope Francis. He participated, as a member, in the 2014 and 2015 Synods of Bishops on the family, in which he was also part of the drafting groups. In the 2017 Assembly of the Episcopal Conference of Argentina, he was elected president of the Episcopal Commission for Faith and Culture (Doctrinal Commission). In June 2018 he assumed the office of archbishop of La Plata. He has been a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture and Consultor of the Congregation for Catholic Education. He is currently a member of the Dicastery for Culture and Education. He has published more than 300 books and scientific articles, many of which have been translated into various languages. These works demonstrate an important biblical foundation and a constant commitment to the dialogue between theology and culture, the evangelizing mission, spirituality and social issues.
Archbishop Emil Paul Tscherrig was born in Unterems, Switzerland, on Feb. 3, 1947 and ordained to the priesthood on April 11, 1974. He received his doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University and was incardinated in the diocese of Sion, Switzerland. Pope John Paul II appointed him a member of the Holy See’s diplomatic service in 1978, as secretary of the apostolic nunciature, serving in Uganda, South Korea, Mongolia and Bangladesh. As Apostolic Nuncio, he has served in Burundi (1996-2000), to Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Bahamas (2000-2004) and from 2001 also to Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Suriname and Saint Kitts and Nevis; South Korea and Mongolia (2004-2008); to the Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway, 2008-2012); to Argentina (2012-2017); to Italy and San Marino, the first non-Italian to hold the post (2017-).
