Pope Benedict XVI announced the names of 23 new cardinals at the end of his weekly general audience Oct 17 and said he would formally install the cardinals during a special consistory at the Vatican Nov 24.

US Archbishop John P Foley, grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, who for 23 years served as president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications was among the cardinals named.

Cardinal-designate Foley was in St Peter's Square when the announcement was made; he told Catholic News Service he had gone into the square, wading into the midst of the crowd, after going to a doctor's appointment.

While rumours were running strong that the pope would name cardinals at the end of the audience and his nomination was almost a given, Cardinal-designate Foley said he was shocked to be the second name announced by the pope.

The order in which the cardinals are announced determines their seniority with the College of Cardinals, which has little practical effect except in liturgical processions.

Naming 18 cardinals under the age of 80, the age limit set for voting in a papal conclave, Pope Benedict said he was setting aside the limit of 120 potential papal electors established by Pope Paul VI and confirmed by Pope John Paul II.

After the new cardinals are installed in late November, there will be 121 potential voters. The 23 new cardinals will bring the total membership of the College of Cardinals to 202.

The November ceremony will mark the second time Pope Benedict has created cardinals since his election in April 2005. At a March 2006 consistory, he created 15 new cardinals.

The new cardinals represent 15 countries on five continents. Eight of the new cardinals are current or retired Vatican officials, 13 are current or retired heads of archdioceses around the world and two are former rectors of the main pontifical universities in Rome.

Here is the list of the 23 cardinals-designate, in the order in which Pope Benedict XVI announced them Oct 17:
• Argentine Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, who will turn 64 Nov 18.
• US Archbishop John P. Foley, pro-grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, who will turn 72 Nov 11.
• Italian Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, president of the commission governing Vatican City State, 72.
• German Archbishop Paul Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, 73.
• Italian Archbishop Angelo Comastri, archpriest of St Peter's Basilica and papal vicar for Vatican City, 64.
• Polish Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, 62.
• Italian Archbishop Raffaele Farina, archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church, 74.
• Spanish Archbishop Agustin Garcia-Gasco Vicente of Valencia, 76.
• Irish Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh, Northern Ireland, primate of all Ireland, 68.
• Spanish Archbishop Lluis Martinez Sistach of Barcelona, 70.
• French Archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois of Paris, who will turn 65 Nov 7.
• Italian Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa, 64.
• Senegalese Archbishop Theodore-Adrien Sarr of Dakar, who will be 71 Nov 28.
• Indian Archbishop Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, 62.
• Mexican Archbishop Francisco Robles Ortega of Monterrey, 58.
• US Archbishop Daniel N DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, 58.
• Brazilian Archbishop Odilio Pedro Scherer of Sao Paulo, 58.
• Kenyan Archbishop John Njue of Nairobi, 63.
• Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel-Karim Delly of Baghdad, Iraq, 80.
• Retired Italian Archbishop Giovanni Coppa, former Vatican nuncio, who will turn 82 Nov 9.
• Retired Archbishop Estanislao Karlic of Parana, Argentina, 81.
• Spanish Jesuit Father Urbano Navarrete, former rector of Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University, 87.
• Italian Franciscan Father Umberto Betti, former rector of Rome's Pontifical Lateran University, 85.
(CNS)