While Cardinal-elect Francis Leo’s upcoming promotion from Archbishop of Toronto isn’t necessarily a surprise – a cardinal has led the Archdiocese of Toronto for all but eight years since 1934 – one thing that’s unique about his elevation is his age.
When the 53-year-old Canadian archbishop officially becomes a cardinal on 8 December, he will be one of the nine youngest in that position among a total of 256 cardinals – eight of whom were born in the 1970s. Leo said that those eight bring to the College of Cardinals a unique worldview from growing up in that decade and then through the 1980s and into the 1990s.
