The archbishop of Chicago, the former archbishop of Denver and 20 other Roman Catholic prelates have been elevated to cardinal status by Pope John Paul II.
The appointments Sunday increase to 123 the number of cardinals eligible to elect the next pope. John Paul has named all but 17 of them.Two of the new cardinals, Christoph Schoenborn of Vienna, Austria, and Dionigi Tettamanzi of Genoa, Italy, are considered possible successors to the 77-year-old John Paul, whose pontificate has spanned nearly 20 years.
As well as choosing popes, the cardinals assist and advise the pontiff in governing the church and hold top positions at the Vatican.
One of the new American cardinals, Archbishop Francis Eugene George of Chicago, took over the United States' second-largest Roman Catholic archdiocese last year. The Chicago-born George, 60, had been archbishop in Portland, Ore., before replacing the popular Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, who died in November 1996.
The other American named a prince of the church, James Francis Stafford, 65, is a former archbishop of Denver and now head of the Vatican's council on the laity - the department that oversees the role of lay individuals in church affairs worldwide.
During John Paul's reign, the balance in the college of cardinals has shifted away from Europe and toward Africa, Asia and Latin America.