In his first set of major appointments, Pope Benedict XVI named 15 new cardinals, including US Archbishop William J Levada, head of the Vatican 's doctrinal congregation.

The pope announced the names at the end of his general audience Feb 22 and said he would formally install the cardinals at a special consistory March 24.

The pope also convened the entire College of Cardinals for a day of reflection and prayer March 23 and said he would celebrate Mass with the cardinals March 25, the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord.

It will be the first gathering of the College of Cardinals since they elected Pope Benedict last April.

Smiling as he made his announcement, the pope said the new cardinals reflect the universality of the Church.

“In fact, they come from every part of the world and carry out diverse duties in service to the people of God,” the pope said.

The new cardinals represent 11 countries from five continents. Three are Vatican officials, nine are heads of dioceses or archdioceses around the world, and three are prelates over age 80 being honoured for their service to the Church.

Of those named, 12 were under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote in a papal conclave. After the installation ceremony, the college is expected to number 193, with the number of voting members once again at its maximum of 120.

Cardinal-designate Levada, 69, was appointed last May as the pope's successor to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He had previously served as archbishop of San Francisco and Portland , Oregon .

Among the more prominent cardinals-designate were Chinese Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong, 74, and Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow , 66, the long-time personal secretary of Pope John Paul II.

Cardinal-designate Dziwisz was a constant presence at the side of Pope John Paul, especially in later years when the ailing pope needed assistance moving, presiding over liturgies and reading texts. Last June, two months after the pope's death, he was named to head his native Archdiocese of Krakow.

He is expected to welcome Pope Benedict to Krakow when the pontiff travels to Poland in late May.

Cardinal-designate Zen, a Salesian, has headed the Diocese of Hong Kong since 2002; he had been coadjutor bishop since 1996. By Chinese standards, he has been considered outspoken in criticising the Hong Kong and Chinese governments on human rights and religious freedom issues.

Late last year, he spoke of a “breakthrough” in Vatican-Chinese relations after recent agreement on bishops' appointments.

In naming new cardinals, the pope selected several people he had worked with closely over the years, including Archbishop Levada at the doctrinal congregation; two of the congregation's members, Archbishop Antonio Canizares Llovera of Toledo, Spain, and Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux, France; and French Jesuit Father Albert Vanhoye, who was a consultor to the doctrinal congregation and secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.

Father Vanhoye, 82, was one of three elderly prelates honoured by the pope; they would not vote in a conclave because they are over the age of 80.

The others were Italian Archbishop Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, 80, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, who had served as the first papal nuncio to Israel in the 1990s; and retired Ghanaian Archbishop Peter Poreku Dery of Tamale, 87.

The pope said he was naming them cardinals “in consideration of the service they gave to the Church with exemplary fidelity and admirable devotion.”

The pope made his announcement on the feast of the Chair of Peter, Apostle, and said it was an appropriate moment to reflect on the ties between the world's cardinals and the pope's ministry.

“The cardinals have the task of supporting and helping the successor of Peter in the fulfilment of the apostolic office entrusted to him in the service of the Church,” he said.

He said the cardinals constitute a type of “senate” around the pope, which he makes use of in his ministry of promoting unity in faith and Church communion.

Here is the list of the 15 cardinals-designate, in the order in which they were announced by the pope:

-- Archbishop Levada.

-- Slovenian Archbishop Franc Rode, 71, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

-- Italian Archbishop Agostino Vallini, 65, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, the Vatican 's highest tribunal.

-- Venezuelan Archbishop Jorge Urosa Savino of Caracas , 63.

-- Filipino Archbishop Guadencio Rosales of Manila , 73.

-- Archbishop Ricard.

-- Archbishop Canizares.

-- Korean Archbishop Nicholas Cheong Jin-Suk of Seoul , 74.

-- Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston , 61

-- Archbishop Dziwisz.

-- Italian Archbishop Carlo Caffarra of Bologna , 67.

-- Bishop Zen.

-- Archbishop Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo.

-- Archbishop Dery.

-- Father Vanhoye.

(CNS)