Cardinal Prevost Elevated within the College of Cardinals

On February 6, 2025, it was announced that Cardinal Robert Prevost, O.S.A., Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, was elevated to the "Order of Bishops" within the College of Cardinals.

This means Cardinal Prevost goes from being a "cardinal deacon" to a "cardinal bishop" (the College of Cardinals has three orders or ranks and also includes "cardinal priests"). Cardinal bishop is the most senior rank within the College of Cardinals and is an honor usually given to those with the highest offices in the Roman Curia.

There are currently 13 members of the "Order of Bishops" within the College of Cardinals, including two Eastern Catholic Patriarchs. Traditionally, there have been six cardinal bishops from the Latin Church, who are assigned the seven historical suburbicarian (suburban) dioceses around Rome (with the Dean of Cardinals taking two), but Pope Francis has increased the number of cardinal bishops. Of the current 13 cardinal bishops, only five are under 80 and can vote in the next conclave to elect the next pope. The cardinal bishops elect the Dean of the College of Cardinals from among themselves for a five-year term.

As part of his new role, Cardinal Prevost was assigned the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Albano, which has been vacant since 2022 with the death of Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

Cardinal Prevost was ordained a bishop in 2014 and was elevated to cardinal in 2023. Besides being the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, he is also the President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.