Pope creates 21 new cardinals from around the world including Tokyo’s archbishop

Isao Kikuchi, the archbishop of Tokyo, 65, will become the seventh Japanese to be appointed a cardinal, following Manyo Maeda, who was named in 2018. Cardinals have the right to vote in the conclave to select a new pope.

Born in Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Kikuchi will be installed at a consistory, a ceremony in which new cardinals are formally appointed, on December 8.

Five of the new cardinals come from the Argentine pontiff’s native Latin America while countries including Indonesia, Serbia, the Philippines and India will also be represented, according to a list published by the Vatican.