The Catholic church will ordain 20 new cardinals this weekend, including the Bishop of Ekwulobia, Peter Okpaleke.

The new cardinals include men known for their progressive views and their pastoral work, and they hail from around the world: from Brazil to Nigeria, India, Singapore and East Timor.

After swearing-in at St Peter’s Basilica, the cardinals will join a two-day meeting of all cardinals starting Monday.

It is recalled that a gathering was called earlier this year to discuss the pope’s new constitution for the governance of the church.

Pope Francis, who has cancelled numerous events in recent months has been forced to use a wheelchair due to knee pain, he said, “the door is open to stepping down.”

If he did follow his predecessor Benedict XVI and resign, a conclave involving all cardinals aged under 80 would be called to choose a successor.

After this weekend, Francis would have chosen around 90 out of the 132 cardinals eligible to elect a new pope, around two-thirds of the total — precisely the percentage needed for any proposed name to pass.

The naming of cardinals, normally an annual event, is always scrutinised as an indication of the future direction of the Catholic Church and its priorities for its 1.3 billion faithful.

But Francis’s choices for cardinals do not automatically guarantee that the next pope would be someone reflecting his priorities, Vatican specialist Bernard Lecomte told AFP.

‘We always have the impression there will be continuity, but in reality, history has shown the opposite,’ said Lecomte, citing the ‘balancing’ from one pope to the next throughout the 20th century.

Peter Ebere Okpaleke is a Nigerian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Bishop of Ekwulobia since 29 April 2020.

He was appointed Bishop of Ahiara in 2012 and consecrated in 2013, but after the local clergy and laity insisted on a Mbaise bishop instead he was installed as bishop of Ekwulobia.

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