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Cardinal Orlando Quevedo receives his biretta cap from Pope Francis during the Consistory at St. Peter's Basilica on February 22, 2014 in Vatican CityPhoto by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

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VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis announced Sunday that he will create 21 new cardinals at a consistory in August, elevating clerics from 16 countries around the world.

The pontiff’s choices include the dissident Bishop of San Diego, Robert McElroy – who has supported female ordination and allowing Holy Communion to pro-abortion politicians.

The Pope also announced that the anti-tradition Vatican liturgy head Archbishop Arthur Roche and pro-LGBT Archbishop Leonardo U. Steiner of Manaus, Brazil will be among those receiving the red hat.

Following the recitation of the Regina Caeli on Sunday at St. Peter’s Square, the Pope revealed that he “will hold a Consistory for the creation of new Cardinals” on August 27.

“Let us pray that they will help me in my mission as Bishop of Rome for the good of all God’s people,” Francis said.

Among the 21 men to be given the red hat on August 27, 16 are cardinal-electors eligible to vote in a future papal conclave as they are yet under 80 years-of-age. They include the following:

  • Archbishop Arthur Roche, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
  • Bishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik of Daejeon, South Korea, Prefect for the Congregation for Clergy.
  • Bishop Fernando Vergez Alzaga, President of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State.
  • Archbishop Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, France.
  • Archbishop Peter Okpaleke of Ekwulobia, Nigeria.
  • Archbishop Leonardo Ulrich Steiner of Manaus, Brazil.
  • Archbishop Filipe Neri António Sebastião of Rosário Ferrão of Goa e Damão, India.
  • Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego.
  • Archbishop Virgilio Do Carmo Da Silva of Dili, East Timor.
  • Bishop Oscar Cantoni of Como, Italy.
  • Archbishop Anthony Poola of Hyderabad, India.
  • Archbishop Paulo Cezar Costa of Brasília, Brazil.
  • Bishop Richard Kuuia Baawobr M. Afr of Wa, Ghana.
  • Archbishop William Goh Seng Chye of Singapore.
  • Archbishop Adalberto Martínez Flores of Asunción, Paraguay.
  • Archbishop Giorgio Marengo, Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The five remaining cardinals-elect are over 80 years old and will therefore not be eligible to vote in any future conclave; however, they serve an important advisory role. They are:

  • Archbishop Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal, Archbishop Emeritus of Cartagena, Colombia.
  • Archbishop Lucas Van Looy, S.D.B, Archbishop Emeritus of Ghent, Belgium.
  • Archbishop Arrigo Miglio, Archbishop Emeritus of Cagliari, Italy.
  • Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda, S.J., former rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University.
  • Monsignor Fortunato Frezza, Canon of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Following Sunday’s announcement, the Pope faced criticism over some of the men he has chosen to elevate as Princes of the Church, including allies such as Bishop Robert McElroy and the anti-tradition Vatican liturgy head Archbishop Arthur Roche.

McElroy has firmly opposed refusing Holy Communion to Catholic politicians who promote abortion, calling any such ban a “political weapon” which is being used to “assault … unity” and ultimately describing moves to exclude “pro-choice” political leaders from Communion as “the wrong step.”

His appointment to the College of Cardinals comes just days after San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone banned Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from receiving the Eucharist over her ardent support of abortion.

The prelate has also been an outspoken supporter of “LGBT” ideology, defending pro-homosexual Jesuit Father James Martin and his book Building a Bridge as “fully consonant with Catholic teaching,” despite demands therein that the Church change its stance on “LGBT” issues.

Taking to Twitter, Father Ryan Hildebrand described McElroy’s appointment as “a scandal,” especially in light of the prelate’s alleged knowledge of ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s criminal abuses.

Matt Gaspers, managing editor of Catholic Family News, noted that, aside from McElroy’s questionable record, his elevation as a lower ranking suffragan bishop over his own metropolitan Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles “is ridiculous.”

Opprobrium likewise poured in regarding the elevation of Roche, who presides over the Vatican’s the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Popular British author Deacon Nick Donnelly said that the appointment of Roche, described by Catholic traditional blog Rorate Caeli as “the great persecutor of traditional Catholics,” indicates “the depths to which the papacy has sunk.”

As things stand, the College of Cardinals has 208 members, and 117 of them have voting rights. Pope Francis has already created 101 cardinals at seven consistories throughout his 9-year-long papacy. Francis has appointed 67 of the 117 cardinals currently eligible to vote in conclave – over 57 percent.

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