Popes have made a habit of exceeding the statutory limit on the number of cardinals under the age of 80, but Pope Francis is planning to set a record.

Coming from different parts of the world and having different experiences and talents, members of the College of Cardinals are called to create a "symphony," listening to one another and to the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis said.

One consequence of Pope Francis choosing new cardinals from the "peripheries" is that friends, family and fans of the newly elevated are just as shocked and surprised as the new cardinals are themselves to have been given the honor.

Pope Francis continues to make surprise additions to the College of Cardinals with plenty of "firsts," and perhaps the most surprising of those "firsts" this time is just how many cardinal electors there will be.

Becoming a member of the broad, unique body of the College of Cardinals is both a great honor and an invitation to help promote a renewal of the Catholic Church's mission of evangelization, some new cardinals said.

Pope Francis will lead a consistory to install new cardinals on Aug. 27. The 16 new cardinal electors, eligible to vote in the next election of a pope, come from surprising places, and many are involved with people on society’s margins. As observers note, the men this Pope has named princes of the Church often have no pretensions to royalty. They are God’s servants in the vineyard of life.

For many people in Rome, Pope Francis' decision to schedule a consistory to create new cardinals in August was more surprising than the men he chose to receive the red hat.

VATICAN CITY -- One by one 11 senior churchmen, including two U.S. citizens -- Cardinals Wilton D. Gregory of Washington and Silvano M. Tomasi, a former Vatican diplomat -- knelt before Pope Francis to receive their red hats, a cardinal's ring and a scroll formally declaring their new status and assigning them a "titular" church in Rome.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis announced he will create 13 new cardinals Nov. 28, including Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Washington.

VATICAN CITY -- In a ceremony in which Canadian Michael Czerny was installed as a cardinal, Pope Francis reminded new and old members of the College of Cardinals how much their ministry and service depends on their realizing how much God loves them and has been compassionate with them.

VATICAN CITY -- After the consistory to create new cardinals in early October, Pope Francis will have chosen more than half of the men who will enter the Sistine Chapel to elect his successor.

The Pope, who is full of surprises, has done it again by announcing that a Canadian Jesuit priest will join 12 archbishops and bishops who will be made cardinals next month in Rome.

VATICAN CITY – The Catholic Church's five new cardinals received a warm reception from family, friends and the general public June 28 after Pope Francis inducted them into the College of Cardinals.

Pope Francis, in his homily at the Consistory which took place in St Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, reflected on the Lord’s “Sermon on the Plain,” found in the Gospel of St Luke.