Thousands gather to welcome new cardinals © REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito Thousands of people have gathered at the Vatican for the inauguration of 22 new cardinals. The Consistory Ceremony will see archbishops from around the world, including the head of the Siro-Malabar Catholic rite in India, brought into the church's innermost circle. The most high profile of the new appointments is archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan. Eighteen of the new cardinals are under 80, making them eligible to enter a secret conclave to elect a new pope from among their ranks after Benedict XVI dies. The other four are over 80. The fresh appointments mean that Pope Benedict, himself elected from amongst the secret conclave in 2005, has now chosen more than half of the cardinals who will eventually choose from amongst their number his replacement, and the leader for some 1.3 billion Roman Catholics worldwide.