Pope Francis blesses during his Sunday Angelus prayer in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican January 4, 2015. Pope Francis on Sunday named 20 new cardinals to the elite group at the top of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, including 15 who are under 80 a
Pope Francis blesses during his Sunday Angelus prayer in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican January 4, 2015. Pope Francis on Sunday named 20 new cardinals to the elite group at the top of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, including 15 who are under 80 and will be allowed to enter a conclave to choose his successor after his death or resignation. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

Pope Francis has chosen 20 new cardinals from 18 countries in what is perceived as a bid to diversify the top leaders of the Catholic Church. A Kiwi and a Tongan are among those who have made the cut.

On Sunday, the 78-year-old reigning pope have announced the new names that will be joining the College of Cardinals on February 14. Fifteen of the 20 cardinals are under 80 years old, and therefore eligible to vote for a new pope should Francis vacate his seat. The other five cardinals, who are over 80, have been recognised for their long service to the church.

With the announcement of the new cardinals, the total number is now 228, 125 of them are electors, which is above the cap of 120. As many have observed, only one of those new names is from an English-speaking country, New Zealand, and none from the U.S. and Canada, both of which the pope thought have already “sizeable” numbers. As Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said, the pope “does not feel chained to the tradition” that some major Italian cities or in Europe or in the U.S. should automatically have cardinals leading them.

New Zealand’s Archbishop of Wellington John Atcherley Dew, 66, will be the country’s first voting cardinal in decades, while Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi of Tonga skips becoming an archbishop and has proceeded to become a cardinal. It is the first time Tonga, as well as Myanmar and Cape Verde, has had a cardinal. Cardinal Mafi is also the youngest name announced at 53.

Cardinal Dew, born in Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, was ordained in May 1976, and was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Wellington Archdiocese in 1995. He took the position of Archbishop of Wellington in March 2005 from Cardinal Tom Williams, ONZ. Cardinal Mafi, on the other hand, first became co-adjutor bishop of Tonga in 2007.

A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical leader who is second to the pope in the hierarchy in the Catholic Church. Here are the 20 new cardinals who will officially be installed on February 14:

Archbishop Dominique Mamberti (France), Archbishop Francesco Montenegro (Italy), Archbishop Ricardo Blazquez Perez (Spain), Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli (Italy), Archbishop Manuel Jose Macario do Nascimento Clemente (Portugal), Archbishop Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet (Uruguay), Archbishop Alberto Suarez Inda (Mexico), Bishop Jose Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan (Panama), Bishop Arlindo Gomes Furtado (Cape Verde), Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel (Ethiopia), Archbishop Charles Maung Bo (Myanmar), Archbishop John Atcherley Dew (New Zealand), Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij (Thailand), Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi (Tonga) and Archbishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon (Hanoi).

The non-voters (over the age of 80) are Archbishop Luigi De Magistris (Italy), Archbishop Karl-Joseph Rauber (Germany), Bishop emeritus Julio Duarte Langa (Mozambique), Archbishop Jose de Jesus Pimiento Rodriguez (Colombia) and Archbishop emeritus Luis Hector Villaba (Argentina).