Pope Francis said on Sunday he would appoint 21 new cardinals from across the world at the end of September as he seeks to leave his imprint on the papacy.

"Their provenance expresses the universality of the Church that continues to proclaim God's merciful love to all people on earth," said the pope, following his weekly Sunday Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace on Saint Peter's Square.

The consistory will be the ninth for the creation of cardinals under Pope Francis, 86, who became pope a decade ago and is  seeking to put a lasting stamp on the institution.

His choices are closely watched as an indication of the future direction of the Catholic Church and its priorities for the 1.3 billion faithful.

All cardinals under the age of 80, including 18 out of the group named on Sunday, are known as "cardinal electors", who will participate in the vote to nominate the successor to Francis.

Since becoming pope, Francis has sought to elevate clergy from developing nations far from Rome to the highest ranks of the Church, as part of his general philosophy of diversity and inclusion.

The names Francis announced Sunday include clergy in regions where Christianity is growing, such as Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Among the archbishops to become cardinals are those of Juba, South Sudan, Cape Town, South Africa, and Tabora, Tanzania.

The list also includes the bishop from Penang, Malaysia, and that of Hong Kong, Stephen Chow Sau-Yan, who has a Harvard PhD in psychology and will be key in improving the Church's fraught ties with communist China.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, the top Catholic in the Holy Land, Italy's Pierbattista Pizzaballa, whose archdiocese encompasses Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Cyprus, also will be inducted.

- Missionaries and administrators -

Francis is also tapping the heads of key dicasteries, including the Italian Claudio Gugerotti, currently prefect for the Dicastery of the Eastern Churches, and Argentina's Victor Manuel Fernandez, chosen earlier this month to head the powerful Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The Chicago-born head of the Dicastery for Bishops, Robert Prevost, who is charged with overseeing bishop appointments and a longtime missionary in Peru, was also named, as was the Holy See's apostolic nuncio, or diplomat, to the United States, Christophe Pierre from France, who has also served as envoy in Haiti, Uganda and Mexico.

Included from Latin America is the emeritus archbishop of Cumana, Venezuela, the archbishop of Cordoba, Argentina, and a 96-year-old Capuchin priest from Buenos Aires.

The last consistory was held in August 2022, when Francis inducted 20 cardinals.

As of last year's consistory, Francis had chosen around 90 out of the 132 cardinals eligible to elect a new pope, around two-thirds of the total.

Cardinals, who wear the scarlet robes of their office, serve as the pope's top advisers and administrators.

During the consistory, the future cardinals kneel one by one at the feet of the pope, who will place on their heads the quadrangular scarlet cap, or biretta.

Following the ceremony, the Vatican holds a traditional "courtesy visit", in which the new cardinals greet the general public.