Pope Benedict XVI has created 22 new cardinals at a ceremony in the Vatican.
Among the most prominent in the group is New York's Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who is already being touted by some Vatican experts as a possible future candidate to become the first US Pope.
Benedict, who turns 85 in April, elevated the men to the second highest Church rank at a ceremony in St Peter's Basilica known as a consistory.
The Pope said: "Cardinals are entrusted with the service of love: love for God, love for his Church, an absolute and unconditional love for his brothers and sisters, even unto shedding their blood, if necessary (in defence of the faith).
"Furthermore, they are asked to serve the Church with love and vigour, with the transparency and wisdom of teachers, with the energy and strength of shepherds, with the fidelity and courage of martyrs.”
He then gave each man their rings and red birettas.
The new cardinals are from the US, Hong Kong, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, India, Canada, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Romania, Belgium and Malta.
There are 18 new cardinals that are aged under 80 and thus will be eligible to enter a secret conclave to elect the next Pope from among their own ranks.
Of those, 12 are Europeans, bringing the number of "cardinal electors" from the continent to 67 out of 125.
Among the new cardinals are two archbishops who were part of the Apostolic Visitation to Ireland following the publication of the Ryan and Murphy reports.
With the new appointments, Benedict, who was elected in a secret conclave in 2005, has now named more than half the cardinal electors.
The others were named by his predecessor John Paul II.
Compared to the 67 "cardinal electors" from Europe, Latin America now has 22, North America has 15, Africa has 11, Asia has 9 and Oceania has one.
