In his first set of major appointments, Pope Benedict XVI named 15 new cardinals, including U.S. Archbishops William J. Levada, head of the Vatican's doctrinal congregation, and Sean P. O'Malley of Boston.

The pope announced the names at the end of his general audience Feb. 22 and said he would formally install the cardinals at a special consistory March 24.

The pope also convened the entire College of Cardinals for a day of reflection and prayer March 23 and said he would celebrate Mass with the cardinals March 25, the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord.

It will be the first gathering of the College of Cardinals since they elected Pope Benedict last April.

Smiling as he made his announcement, the pope said the new cardinals reflect the universality of the church. "In fact, they come from every part of the world and carry out diverse duties in service to the people of God," the pope said.

The new cardinals represent 11 countries from five continents. Three are Vatican officials, nine are heads of dioceses or archdioceses around the world, and three are prelates over age 80 being honored for their service to the church.

Of those named, 12 were under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote in a papal conclave. After the installation ceremony, the college is expected to number 193, with the number of voting members once again at its maximum of 120.

Cardinal-designate Levada, 69, was appointed last May as the pope's successor to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He was born in Long Beach, attended St. Anthony Elementary and High Schools, and was ordained from St. John's Seminary in 1961 for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

He served as an associate pastor at St. Louis of France (La Puente) and St. Monica (Santa Monica); taught at St. Monica High School and St. John's Seminary; was archdiocesan director of Continuing Education for the Clergy (1973-76) and Priests' Senate president (1975-76); and was executive director of the California Catholic Conference (1982-83).

In between, he served as a staff member for Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (1976-82). He was named an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles in 1983; served as archbishop of Portland, Ore. (1986-95); and was archbishop of San Francisco (1995-2005) before being named to his current Vatican post last May.

Cardinal-designate Levada's elevation will, for the first time in its history, give the Archdiocese of Los Angeles three native sons --- all ordained within a year of each other from St. John's Seminary --- serving in the College of Cardinals. Cardinal Roger Mahony, born in Hollywood, was ordained to the priesthood in 1962 and became a cardinal in 1991. Cardinal Justin Rigali, a classmate of Cardinal-designate Levada, served for many years in the Vatican, then as archbishop of St. Louis and Philadelphia before being named a cardinal in 2003.

The appointment of Archbishop O'Malley, 61, gives the Archdiocese of Boston a resident cardinal after more than three years. Cardinal Bernard F. Law resigned in late 2002 in the wake of controversy over how he handled clerical sex abuse allegations in Boston, and he is now archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. Archbishop O'Malley, a Capuchin Franciscan, has headed the archdiocese since 2003.

Among the more prominent cardinals-designate were Chinese Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong, 74, and Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, 66, the longtime personal secretary of Pope John Paul II.

Cardinal-designate Dziwisz was a constant presence at the side of Pope John Paul, especially in later years when the ailing pope needed assistance moving, presiding over liturgies and reading texts. Last June, two months after the pope's death, he was named to head his native Archdiocese of Krakow.

He is expected to welcome Pope Benedict to Krakow when the pontiff travels to Poland in late May.

Cardinal-designate Zen, a Salesian, has headed the Diocese of Hong Kong since 2002; he had been coadjutor bishop since 1996. By Chinese standards, he has been considered outspoken in criticizing the Hong Kong and Chinese governments on human rights and religious freedom issues.

Late last year, he spoke of a "breakthrough" in Vatican-Chinese relations after recent agreement on bishops' appointments.

In naming new cardinals, the pope selected several people he had worked with closely over the years, including Archbishop Levada at the doctrinal congregation; two of the congregation's members, Archbishop Antonio Canizares Llovera of Toledo, Spain, and Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux, France; and French Jesuit Father Albert Vanhoye, who was a consultor to the doctrinal congregation and secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.

Father Vanhoye, 82, was one of three elderly prelates honored by the pope; they would not vote in a conclave because they are over the age of 80. The others were Italian Archbishop Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, 80, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, who had served as the first papal nuncio to Israel in the 1990s; and retired Ghanaian Archbishop Peter Poreku Dery of Tamale, 87.

The pope said he was naming them cardinals "in consideration of the service they gave to the church with exemplary fidelity and admirable devotion."

The pope made his announcement on the feast of the Chair of Peter, Apostle, and said it was an appropriate moment to reflect on the ties between the world's cardinals and the pope's ministry.

"The cardinals have the task of supporting and helping the successor of Peter in the fulfillment of the apostolic office entrusted to him in the service of the church," he said.

He said the cardinals constitute a type of "senate" around the pope, which he makes use of in his ministry of promoting unity in faith and church communion.

Here is the list of the 15 cardinals-designate, in the order in which they were announced by Pope Benedict XVI Feb. 22:

---U.S. Archbishop William J. Levada, 69, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

---Slovenian Archbishop Franc Rode, 71, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

---Italian Archbishop Agostino Vallini, 65, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, the Vatican's highest tribunal.

---Venezuelan Archbishop Jorge Urosa Savino of Caracas, 63.

---Filipino Archbishop Guadencio Rosales of Manila, 73.

---French Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux, 61.

---Spanish Archbishop Antonio Canizares Llovera of Toledo, 60.

---Korean Archbishop Nicholas Cheong Jin-Suk of Seoul, 74.

---U.S. Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, 61.

---Polish Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, 66, the longtime personal secretary of Pope John Paul II.

---Italian Archbishop Carlo Caffarra of Bologna, 67.

---Chinese Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong, 74.

---Italian Archbishop Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, 80.

---Retired Ghanaian Archbishop Peter Poreku Dery of Tamale, 87.

---French Jesuit Father Albert Vanhoye, former secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, 82.

---CNS