Pope Francis yesterday elevated 21 clergymen from distant corners of the world to the rank of cardinal, saying diversity was indispensable to the future of the Catholic Church.
Under sunny skies and with a crowd that filled half of Vatican City’s grandiose, colonnaded St Peter’s Square, the 86-year-old pope welcomed the new, so-called “Princes of the Church” – one of whom could one day become the successor to the current pontiff.