Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP created a cardinal

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Date 9 December 2024

We are delighted that alumnus and Honorary Fellow, Timothy Radcliffe, was elevated to the rank of Cardinal by Pope Francis on Saturday 7th December 2024 at St. Peter’s Basilica.
Timothy Radcliffe being created Cardinal by Pope Francis

Assigned Cardinal Protector of Chiesa dei Santi Nomi di Gesù e Maria, he brings the current number of English cardinals to four, joining Vincent Nichols, Michael Fitzgerald and Arthur Roche.

Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe in Dominican robes amongst fellow Cardinals

The 1983 Code of Canon Law requires that those who are not already bishops must receive episcopal consecration before being made a Cardinal. However, Pope Francis granted Cardinal Radcliffe a rare dispensation from this requirement.

As a member of the College of Cardinals, he becomes eligible to vote in the conclave to elect a new pope, until his 80th birthday, and will act as an advisor to the Pope.

Cardinal Radcliffe is a member of the Dominican Community at Blackfriars, Oxford, a Fellow of Blackfriars Hall and an Honorary Fellow of St John’s College.

You can find out more about his connections to St John's and the wider university in our earlier news article about his election as Cardinal.

Photos from Vatican Media.