Pope Francis names 17 cardinals

Pope Francis has named 17 new cardinals, most young enough to vote in a conclave to elect his successor.

Pope Francis has named 17 new cardinals - 13 of them under age 80 and thus eligible to vote in a conclave to elect his successor.

They hail from some of the most far-away and peripheral corners of the globe, with Africa, Oceania, Asia and South America getting far more representation than Europe, which has long dominated the College of Cardinals.

Significantly only one Italian elector was named: Francis' ambassador to "the beloved and martyred Syria''.

Three are also Americans, including moderate Chicago Archbishop Blaise Cupich and Indianapolis Archbishop Joseph Tobin.

Francis said the 17 would be elevated at a consistory on November 19, on the eve of the close to his Holy Year of Mercy.