Pope snubs Curia in consistory of cardinals

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis said Sunday he is creating 15 new cardinals from 14 countries in a move that may influence the choice of his successor to lead the Catholic Church.
Of the new cardinals to be formally appointed at a consistory in the Vatican next month only one, French Archbiship Dominique Mamberti, is a member of the Curia, the central government of the Church, evidently confirming the pope's intention to reduce the power of the traditionally conservative church bureaucracy.
 The youngest new cardinal will be the Archbishop of Tonga, Monsignor Manfi, born in 1961. In addition to the 15 new cardinals with the right to elect the next pope Francis also said he is appointing five new non-voting cardinals aged over 80, the oldest being the Archbishop Emeritus of Manizale in Colombia, Mons. Pimento Rodrigues, who was born in 1919.
 The appointments will take the number of "princes of the Church" in the College of Cardinals eligible to elect a new pope in a conclave to a total of 123. 
 The 15 include prelates from Portugal, Italy, New Zealand, Mexico, Thailand, Ethiopia, Spain, Panama, Cape Verde, Myanmar, Uruguay and Vietnam.
 Later this month the pontiff will leave Italy for a pastoral visit to the Philippines and  Sri Lanka.