Lacroix, 56, was one of 19 new cardinals named by the Pope on Jan. 12. They will be formally installed into the College of Cardinals at a Vatican consistory on Feb. 22.
"I'm touched by the confidence shown by Pope Francis," Lacroix told reporters following Sunday mass in Quebec City, reported the Canadian Press. "I'm very happy to continue to serve the Church with him."
A native of Saint-Hilaire de Dorset, a small town 300 kilometres east of Montreal, Lacroix was named Quebec's archbishop in 2011. He will become Canada's third cardinal, joining Toronto's Thomas Collins and Montreal's Jean-Claude Turcotte. Canadian-born cardinal Marc Oullet, who was formerly the archbishop of Quebec, now serves in the Vatican.
The pope announced the nominations to the faithful in St. Peter's Square shortly after noon Jan. 12, after praying the Angelus.
The consistory will bring the total number of cardinals to 218 and the number of cardinals under age 80 to 122. Until they reach their 80th birthdays, cardinals are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope.
Two current cardinal electors will turn 80 in March, bringing the number of electors back to the limit of 120 set by Pope Paul VI. (Other popes have occasionally exceeded that limit for short periods of time.)
Five of the new electors are from Latin America, an increase by one-third of the current number from the region. Latin America, home to about 40 percent of the world's Catholics, will account for 16 percent of the group eligible to choose the next pope.
Four of the new cardinal electors are from Italy, leaving that nation's share practically unchanged at nearly a quarter.
Four new cardinal electors are Vatican officials, three of them in offices that traditionally entail membership in the college.
Another three of the new cardinals are already over the age of 80 and, therefore, ineligible to vote in a conclave. The pope uses such nominations to honor churchmen for their scholarship or other service to the church.
Among the new so-called honorary cardinals is Cardinal-designate Loris Capovilla, who served as personal secretary to Blessed John XXIII.
Here is the list of the new cardinals:
-- Italian Archbishop Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, who will turn 59 Jan. 17.
-- Italian Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, 73.
-- German Archbishop Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 66.
-- Italian Archbishop Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, 72.
-- English Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, 68.
-- Nicaraguan Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes Solorzano of Managua, 64.
-- Canadian Archbishop Gerald Lacroix of Quebec, 56.
-- Ivorian Archbishop Jean-Pierre Kutwa of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 68.
-- Brazilian Archbishop Orani Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro, 63.
-- Italian Archbishop Gualtiero Bassetti of Perguia-Citta della Pieve, 71.
-- Argentine Archbishop Mario Poli of Buenos Aires, 66.
-- Korean Archbishop Andrew Yeom Soo-jung of Seoul, 70.
-- Chilean Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello of Santiago, 72.
-- Burkina Faso Archbishop Philippe Ouedraogo of Ouagadougou, 68.
-- Philippine Archbishop Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato, 74.
-- Haitian Bishop Chibly Langlois of Les Cayes, 55.
-- Italian Archbishop Capovilla, 98.
-- Spanish Archbishop Fernando Sebastian Aguilar, retired, of Pamplona, 84.
-- Saint Lucian Archbishop Kelvin Felix, retired, of Castries, 80.