The pope just announced a new consistory that will take place Dec. 8 appointing 21 new cardinals from around the world. Eleven of these new cardinals are from religious orders. Only one of them is older than 80 so will not be eligible to vote in the conclave.

ANALYSIS: Here are six angles for understanding who the new cardinals are and why Pope Francis might have picked them.

ROME — Pope Francis named 21 new cardinals Sunday, significantly increasing the size of the College of Cardinals and further cementing his mark on the group of prelates who will one day elect his successor.

But while Francis, 87, has now named some 80% of the prelates who will choose the next pope, those who study the church say his choices - often of low-profile churchmen from distant countries, many of whom barely know each other - are not meant to smooth the way for a preferred heir.

ROME — Pope Francis named 21 new cardinals Sunday, significantly increasing the size of the College of Cardinals and further cementing his mark on the group of prelates who will one day elect his successor.

In announcing on Sunday that he would appoint 21 new cardinals, Pope Francis once again elevated clerics from far beyond Catholicism’s traditional centers of power, in line with his vision of a more global,

For the first time in history, a majority of the cardinals at the next conclave will be from outside of Europe.