VATICAN CITY — January 6, 2012 — Pope Benedict XVI named 22 new cardinals. The list includes two Americans: Archbishop Timothy Dolan, 61, of New York, who is also president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Interviewed in March, 2011 on “Sixty Minutes” by Morley Safer he was described as a “cherubic Irish-American who charges through life like a holy bulldozer, his brow gleaming, hands reaching. It's a laugh a minute, hugging, glad-handing and backslapping everyone from street cops to big-time donors. Archbishop Dolan's legendary personality and humor are well known and you'll hear his stance on the important issues challenging the Catholic Church today: the clergy sexual abuse crisis, the debate over priestly celibacy and the state of Catholicism in America today.”

          The 2nd American elevated to cardinal by the Vatican is Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, 72, former archbishop of Baltimore. He is a Bronx native who exercises regularly on a treadmill, roots ardently for the Yankees and, according to friends, is so devoted to the idea of doing what he asks others to do that he learned how to parachute before serving as a military chaplain in Vietnam.

          Pope Benedict XVI’s selection of Archbishop O’Brien among the 22 prelates he elevated to cardinal, was not unexpected since it typically goes with the title he has held for the past six months: pro-grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem. He is in charge of a largely lay order, dating to the Crusades in the 11th century, of 30,000 members, half of them in North America, and his ornate title essentially means he is the pope’s representative to Catholics in the Holy Land — a diplomatically sensitive job given Middle East politics. He is also chief fund-raiser for the preservation of that region’s sacred sites.

          The German pope, who long served at theVatican himself before his election to the papacy in 2005, has now named half of the prelates eligible to vote in the next papal conclave. Cardinals are the pope's top advisers, the elite group of churchmen who will eventually elect Benedict's successor. Of the 22 named Friday, 18 are under the age of 80, raising to 125 the number of cardinals eligible to vote in the next papal conclave. Cardinals aged 80 and over are not allowed to cast such votes.