Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi will be made a cardinal, Pope Francis announced in Vatican City on Sunday, in a move that will make him the seventh Japanese national elevated to the position.
Kikuchi, the archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Tokyo, will also be eligible to vote in a papal conclave — a closed-door meeting held at the Sistine Chapel where cardinals elect a new pope when the Holy See is vacant. Electors are limited to cardinals under the age of 80 at the time the vacancy occurs.
The Tokyo archbishop is among 21 clergymen around the world who are set to be formally admitted to the College of Cardinals at a consistory at the Vatican on Dec. 8. The last time the pontiff named new cardinals was in September 2023.
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