(NEW YORK) — A federal judge should consider holding New York City and its Department of Correction in contempt for failing to adequately address security, management and discipline at the problem-plagued Rikers Island jail complex, a court-appointed monitor recommended Monday in a new report.
The recommendation followed the monitor’s conclusion “that the risk of harm in the jails remains grave and that the jails remain patently unsafe” after a year of “unprecedented rates of use of force and violence.”
“Real harm is occurring to real people in real time, and that cautious optimism that meaningful change can occur in this system has significantly diminished given the current climate of regression in key areas and the lack of sustained progress in others coupled with an increasing and troubling lack of transparency,” the report said.
The report said that “some progress has been made” since a monitor was appointed in 2014 but it also said court-ordered reforms “remain incomplete or have not been addressed,” leaving “no meaningful relief for people in custody or staff from the violence and the unnecessary and excessive use of force.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has argued it should retain control of Rikers. A federal judge is considering whether the federal government should take it over.
The mayor’s office didn’t immediately issue a statement about the monitor’s report.
The dynamics at Rikers have changed since the monitor was installed. COVID-19 triggered a staffing crisis and New York’s bail reform law changed the composition of the incarcerated population.
Individuals with less serious offenses are generally no longer held pending trial, resulting in a heavier concentration of violent offenders.
Still, the monitor found there is a “pervasive, imminent risk of harm to both people in custody and staff,” citing “extraordinarily high” rates of use of force, stabbings and slashings, fights, assaults on staff, and in-custody deaths.
Staff members are deploying head strikes, chokeholds, kicks and body slams, the monitor said.
The report included security camera images that captured instances of what the monitor called an “apathetic approach to basic security,” including when staff cede control of a housing unit to the inmates.
One image showed a prison officer watching a fight among inmates from a stairwell.
(NASH COUNTY, N.C.) — A routine traffic stop in North Carolina may have prevented a case of child trafficking, according to police.
Deputies with the Nash County Police Department arrested Alejandro Hernandez Vazquez, 40, after realizing his 16-year-old female passenger had been reported missing by Florida’s Coral Springs Police Department only five hours earlier.
“It was not like she was bound in the car and things of that nature, but you know, it’s a young 16-year-old and a grown man, and he’s manipulated her and carried her across this country,” Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone told ABC affiliate WTVD. “This is a true case of child trafficking.”
Deputies initially pulled over Alejandro Hernandez Vazquez at midnight on July 4 after he committed a traffic violation in a 2016 Audi SUV on Interstate 95. The release noted that the deputies “developed reasonable suspicion to believe that criminal activity was afoot” after asking a series of routine questions.
Deputies later learned that Vazquez’s 16-year-old female passenger was reported missing by her family five hours earlier, according to the release. Officers also recovered two THC vape pens in the car’s driver door and center console.
“The suspect was not known to the family, nor did he have permission to transport the juvenile across state lines,” police said.
Stone added that the teen appeared to be traveling willfully with Vazquez.
Children account for over 30% of the missing persons in the United States, with 337,195 reports of missing young people entered into the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Crime Information Center in 2021.
The 16-year-old was transported to Wake County Juvenile Detention Center to be picked up by her family, while Vazquez was taken into custody at the Nash County Detention Center where he was held on a $500,000 secured bond.
Vazquez was charged with abduction of child, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, felony possession of a synthetic cannabinoid, and possession of marijuana paraphernalia, according to the Nash County Sheriff’s Office.
His next court appearance is scheduled for July 20.
(NEW YORK) — A few moments after Idlewild Creek began to rise on Sunday, the first wave of murky water washed into the ground floor of Kristine Schmidt’s blue-and-white house.
Moments later, she saw her neighbors swept away in their SUV, Schmidt told ABC News on Monday. Fire trucks arrived and pulled their car out of the creek, she said.
As the floodwater receded from her home in Cornwall, New York, it left a trail of a thick mud in its wake. Outside her home, potted plants had been knocked over and grass had been uprooted. Inside, amid the ruins of her living room and kitchen, a bookshelf and fridge lay on their sides.
“We’re all heartbroken,” she said.
The flooding in Cornwall, in Orange County, came as heavy rain drenched much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Sunday, prompting flash flood alerts in parts of New York.
As much as 8 inches of rain fell in some areas and at least one person was killed in the storm in Orange County, New York.
Areas in New York counties including Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester were under flash flood warnings into the early hours of Monday.
“Last night was complete chaos,” Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” on Monday.
Members of his staff were working to contact people throughout the county on Monday morning, he said, adding that roads and bridges were washed out by the storm. His staff was attempting to reopen “major arteries” throughout the area, he said.
Everyone who had reported an issue appeared to have been accounted for, “but there are some people who could have been swept away,” Neuhaus said.
There’s significant damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure in Orange County, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
“Orange County experienced a 1-in-1,000-year weather event last night,” the governor tweeted Monday. “The rain has subsided, but the crisis is not over.”
Hochul warned, “New York State is facing simultaneous weather emergencies: Southern New York is recovering from last night’s damage. Heavy rain is impacting the Mid-Hudson, Capital Region, & North Country. A Flood Watch is in effect for most of Eastern New York through Tuesday night.”
“As ongoing extreme weather conditions continue in Northeast New York, the Lake Champlain region is at greatest risk for flash flooding,” Hochul said. “As we’ve seen, conditions can change in an instant. New Yorkers should take this seriously & prepare.”
The rain is continuing to push north on Monday, with flooding expected from upstate New York to Vermont to New Hampshire to Maine.
In Vermont, where a state of emergency is in effect, rare excessive rainfall and life-threatening flash flooding is expected. So far, 19 people have been rescued by boat and another 25 people have been evacuated, officials said.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said the state has not seen flooding like this since 2011’s Hurricane Irene, and in some places, the flooding will surpass that.
“Flash flood warnings are in effect from the Massachusetts line to the Canadian border,” Vermont State Police said. “If you can, please stay home today. However, if floodwaters are approaching your home, leave immediately.”
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said the agency is closely watching the situation.
ABC News’ Alexandra Faul contributed to this report
(NEW YORK) — Beaches in several states across the Northeast have recently been closed to swimmers due to high levels of bacteria in the water.
Numerous beaches in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island were closed by public health officials due to unsafe water quality.
“When the water quality is unsafe, the beach is required to be ‘posted’ with a sign that indicates swimming is unsafe and may cause illness,” the Massachusetts Department of Public Health wrote on its website.
More than 60 beaches were closed for swimming in Massachusetts after high levels of fecal bacteria were detected in the water, according to the department.
Heavy rainfall from recent storms that hit the Northeastern states may be one reason behind the high levels of human waste, experts said.
A large amount of water from rain or snow can run off the land and carry fecal matter into water at beaches, officials said. Additionally, it can lead to sewage systems overflowing, which can cause untreated sewage to reach nearby bodies of water.
“Water from rain or snowmelt can cause certain types of sewers to overflow if their capacity is exceeded,” the Environmental Protection Agency states on its website. “Discharges from combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) contain a mixture of raw sewage, industrial wastewater and storm water, and have resulted in beach closings.”
In Rhode Island, officials have been testing levels of enterococci bacteria, which live in the intestinal tracts of humans and are a sign of water contamination by fecal waste, according to the EPA.
Eight beaches across Rhode Island have closed over the past month after levels of these bacteria exceeded more than 60 colony forming units — the number of bacteria cells viable to form a small colony — per 100 milliliters in saltwater and freshwater.
Three beaches remain closed in Rhode Island as of Monday. The state Department of Health said it plans to monitor all beaches through Labor Day.
Additionally, nine beaches in Massachusetts are being monitored for high levels of cyanobacteria.
Cyanobacteria, often referred to as blue-green algae, are a type of bacteria often found in freshwater but can appear in salt water or brackish water, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The bacteria itself doesn’t infect people but can produce toxins that make people sick.
The contaminated water can cause symptoms including headaches, stomach pain, dizziness, vomiting and diarrhea. It can also cause irritation of the skin, eyes, nose, throat and lungs.
Cyanobacteria can multiply quickly in warm waters that become rich in nutrients including from fertilizers and septic tank overflows, the CDC said.
Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, seven beaches were closed on Thursday due to “elevated bacteria levels” according to separate statements from the Wareham Board of Health and the town of Rye.
Health officials have not revealed what bacteria has contaminated the water or how widespread the contamination is.
As of Monday, three of the beaches have reopened but the others will remain closed with officials saying, “we want to ensure that the water quality is back to its pristine condition before we welcome you back.”
(NEW YORK) — More than 35 million Americans are on alert for dangerous heat that’s baking the Southeast and Southwest.
On Monday, the temperature will hit about 109 degrees in Palm Springs, California; 108 in Las Vegas; 110 in Phoenix; 105 in Tucson, Arizona; and 98 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The unrelenting heat will stay throughout the week. By Friday, temperatures could soar to 115 degrees in Palm Springs and Phoenix.
This could be the worst heat wave ever for the Phoenix area. Phoenix has reached 110 degrees or above for 10 days straight, and could reach its record of 18 days straight.
In the Southeast, the heat is infiltrating cities from Dallas to Houston to New Orleans to Miami.
The heat index — what the temperature feels like with humidity — is forecast to climb above 100 degrees for much of this week in areas from Dallas to Miami.
Water temperatures are reaching about 90 degrees in Miami and 92 degrees in Key West, Florida. Miami on average hits its warmest water of the year — 87 degrees — in August.
(WASHINGTON) — Every day, Andre Rush, a retired Army officer and former White House chef, does 2,222 pushups. And every day, he thinks about what that number symbolizes: a tribute to the military veterans who die daily from suicide.
Rush’s ritual is more than just a tribute, however.
“It’s a reminder to never become complacent, that we still have work to do and we still have to keep going,” Rush told ABC News. “And you can’t stop. You can never give up on something that you believe in, especially people.”
The prominent chef, TV host and advocate recently joined “Face the Fight,” a multimillion-dollar new initiative launched last month to halve the suicide rate among veterans by 2030.
When Rush began his pushups, the daily veteran suicide rate was thought to be approximately 22. Subsequent government reports have shown that over the last two decades, it went from 16.4 in 2001 to 16.8 in 2020, with a peak in 2018 of 18.6.
In 2020, the suicide rate for veterans was 57.3% higher than for non-veteran adults, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ 2022 National Veteran Suicide Prevention annual report.
Backed by USAA — a financial company for military members, veterans and their families — and $41 million in philanthropic grants, the “Face the Fight” campaign is designed to raise awareness and support for veteran suicide prevention.
A coalition of corporations, foundations, nonprofits and veteran-focused organizations are involved, such as the Humana Foundation and Reach Resilience, an Endeavors Foundation.
Rush knows firsthand how trauma can shadow someone’s life — and the hole suicide can leave behind.
“The last time I’ve cried was two days ago, and so my next cry will probably be tomorrow,” he said. “It doesn’t mean it’s a weakness, doesn’t mean that I’m sad. It can be from happy. But for me, it’s just a relief. I do this so much, and I take on so many people’s energies, but I remember my own struggles.”
After witnessing the 9/11 terrorist attack while working in Pentagon, Rush began speaking out about veteran suicide and mental health. He discusses his own history with post-traumatic stress disorder, saying he’s been “facing the fight for a long time.”
Rush is also grieving the recent death of his 11-year-old daughter, Ava.
“Unfortunately my daughter and her brothers, their lives were taken by [the brothers’] father, who was a military veteran and also in the law enforcement area, and he took another command sergeant major’s life as well. And he took his own life afterwards, and their mother gave me permission to talk about this because she can’t, and she won’t for a very long time,” Rush told “Muscle & Fitness.”
Ava, two other children and Sgt. Maj. Carlos Evans were killed in South Carolina in March by Charles Slacks Jr., who then killed himself, according to WLTX. The only survivor was Slacks’ ex-wife.
Slacks had been a civilian employee of the Defense Department and served in the Army, according to Military.com.
Katy Dondanville, a clinical psychologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, has spent her career researching PTSD and suicide in veterans. She said the reasons why someone dies by suicide are complicated.
“What we know is that there is not one cause of suicide. It’s a complex interplay of risk factors and protective factors that impact every individual differently,” said Dondanville, whose program is getting money from “Face the Fight.”
Dondanville said that the new campaign is funding programs that will promote voluntary, safe and secure storage of firearms since the majority of veteran suicides involve guns.
“We cannot leave this problem only to the government, the [U.S. Veterans Affairs Department], the [Department of Defense] or our health care providers,” said Dondanville. “Over half of individuals who die by suicide, they haven’t gone to a health care provider in the last year, they haven’t gone to the VA. And so this is where there’s this opportunity for organizations like USAA, and other business leaders need to change the culture around suicide and talk about it.”
Rush said he hopes people will listen if a veteran asks for help, no matter if they “look like me, with 24-inch biceps, or [are] laughing on social media.”
“It’s a stigma,” he said. But suicide “can hit anybody, anytime.”
USAA CEO Wayne Peacock said “Face the Fight” hopes to connect with community leaders through a grassroots approach.
“I think we have a lot to learn, and we’ll continue to scale in areas where we have confidence and I think we’ll build new capabilities,” he said.
“By helping each other, we all get to a better place,” he said.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To contact the veterans’ crisis line, dial 988, then press 1 or text 838255.
(NEW YORK) — Three MQ-9 Reaper drones that the U.S. military said had been “harassed” by Russian fighter jets over Syria on Friday were the same drones that later carried out an airstrike that killed a top Islamic State group leader, U.S. Central Command announced Sunday.
Usamah al-Muhajir was killed on Friday, CENTCOM said.
A defense official told ABC News that he was killed while riding a motorcycle in northwestern Syria in an area where the U.S. has carried out other strikes against terrorist leaders who operate in an area under Syrian government control and where the Russian military also conducts flight operations in support of the Syrian regime.
News of the strike capped three straight days of tense encounters as the U.S. criticized Russian pilots for “unsafe and unprofessional” behavior with its drones flying over Syria.
“The strike on Friday was conducted by the same MQ-9s that had, earlier in the day, been harassed by Russian aircraft in an encounter that had lasted almost two hours,” CENTCOM said in Sunday’s statement.
The U.S. military had also called out the behavior of Russian fighter pilots it said “harassed” the Reaper drones that were flying anti-terrorism missions over Syria in two separate incidents on Wednesday and Thursday.
To highlight that behavior, the Pentagon declassified two videos that showed Russian fighter jets dropping parachute flares in front of the drones and one of the jets engaging its afterburners, all actions that led the drones to have to take evasive maneuvers.
There was a third straight day of interactions between Russian fighters and U.S. drones on Friday when U.S. Air Forces Central said “Russian aircraft flew 18 unprofessional close passes that caused the MQ-9s to react to avoid unsafe situations.”
“We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region,” Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of CENTCOM, said in a statement Sunday. “ISIS is a threat, not only to the region but well beyond.”
CENTCOM said that while there “are no indications that any civilians were killed in this strike,” officials were “assessing reports of a civilian injury.”
U.S. aircraft normally operate in eastern Syria where 900 U.S. troops are involved in counter-IS operations, while Russian troops and aircraft operate in western Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
That the airstrike occurred near Aleppo in northwestern Syria may help explain why the U.S. drones were coming into frequent contact with Russian fighter jets that fly out of the nearby air base at Khmeimim.
Last week, a Pentagon spokesman discounted Russian Defense Ministry claims that American drones had been flying in areas where Russian aircraft operate, suggesting the U.S. was to blame for the altercations.
However, on previous occasions, U.S. aircraft have operated in northwestern Syria to undertake airstrikes targeting senior IS leaders.
For years, both militaries have regularly used a deconfliction safety line to provide advance notifications of where their aircraft would be operating over Syria to prevent any unsafe interactions.
U.S. officials have said that, in recent months, Russia is no longer using that line regularly.
(CLEVELAND) — Nine people were shot early Sunday in Cleveland’s historic Warehouse District when a gunman opened fire as bars and nightclubs were closing and police officers were nearby patrolling the bustling entertainment area, according to the Cleveland Police Department.
Police officers were on weekend patrol in the Warehouse District when they heard gunshots erupt at 2:25 a.m. They discovered multiple victims at the corner of West 6th Street and Johnson Court suffering from gunshot wounds and in need of medical aid, police said.
Cleveland Police Chief Wayne Drummond said at a news conference Sunday that several officers were on duty in the area when an “individual started shooting toward the crowd.”
“I stress, we had officers assigned here … a very visible presence of officers, yet this individual decided to use that weapon and shot individuals even with our officers here,” Drummond said. “So it’s not a matter of police response. It’s not a matter of police visibility because we were here and we will continue to be here.”
Cmdr. Richard Tucker of the Cleveland Police Department said the gunman opened fire 50 to 75 feet away from the crowd he targeted before fleeing the scene.
“I’m really proud of our officers. They were here and they responded immediately. They ran to the gunfire and took care of the victims until EMS could respond,” Drummond said. “I hope what they did helped save some of those victims.”
No arrests have been announced and a motive for the shooting remains under investigation, police said.
“Investigators are in the process of reviewing evidence and video, as well as interviewing victims at MetroHealth Medical Center,” according to the police statement.
One victim was in critical condition Sunday afternoon while the others were in serious to stable condition, police said.
Of the nine victims, seven are men and two are women, officials said. The victims ranged in age from 23 to 38.
The victims were all being treated at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland.
Drummond said the preliminary investigation indicates the shooting came without warning and no apparent provocation.
“We have no information, at least right now, from our investigators that there was any type of issues or concerns, or trouble taking place … before this individual started shooting,” Drummond said.
A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the gunman, authorities said.
Police asked anyone with information about the shooting to call them immediately.
Drummond said investigators are following several leads in an attempt to identify the gunman.
Cleveland Mayor Justin M. Bibb said he was thankful no one was killed and that shooting illustrates “the massive gun problem we have not just in Cleveland, not just in Ohio, but across this nation.”
Drummond said police are also investigating a shooting that occurred at 1:10 a.m. Sunday on West 6th Street in the neighboring Tremont area in which three men were wounded. The chief said investigators have found no evidence connecting that shooting with the mass casualty incident that erupted 95 minutes later.
“From what we know right now, there was some kind of street party and an argument ensued. An individual pulled out a firearm and started shooting and three individuals were struck there,” Drummond said, adding that all three victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
No arrests have been announced in the Tremont neighborhood shooting.
The shooting came just days after 22 mass shootings occurred across the nation over the long Fourth of July holiday weekend, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a website that tracks shootings nationwide and defines a mass shooting as a single event with four or more victims either injured or killed. The mass shootings, according to the website, occurred in 17 states and Washington, D.C., and rocked several major cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and Fort Worth, Texas.
(WASHINGTON) — John Kirby, the spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council, on Sunday defended the Biden administration’s decision to send controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine despite the weapons’ risk to civilians — and numerous other countries forbidding their use.
In an interview with ABC This Week co-anchor Martha Raddatz, Kirby also addressed a newly revealed meeting between former American officials and Russia’s top diplomat earlier this year.
On cluster munitions, he insisted that Ukraine will seek to limit the impact of the bombs off the battlefield and said that keeping Russia from winning the war there will be the greatest thing the U.S. can do to protect non-combatants.
“I think we can all agree that more civilians have been and will continue to be killed by Russian forces — whether it’s cluster munitions, drones, missile attacks or just frontal assaults — than will likely be hurt by the use of these cluster munitions fired at Russian positions inside Ukrainian territory,” he said.
Kirby explained that the cluster munitions are being supplied now to make up for how quickly Ukrainian forces are using up their other artillery, at a rate of “many thousands of rounds per day.”
“This is literally a gun fight. … They’re running out of inventory,” he said. “We are trying to ramp up our production of the kind of artillery shells that they’re using most. But that production rate is still not where we wanted it to be.”
“So you’re sending those cluster munitions because we don’t have enough of the kind of munitions they need?” Raddatz clarified.
“That is right,” Kirby said.
He also suggested the bombs are intended to be temporary, “to help bridge the gap as we ramp up production of normal … artillery shells.”
The decision to provide the munitions comes as Ukraine’s new counteroffensive against Russia’s invasion moves more slowly than hoped, with Kyiv’s allies looking for ways to expedite the process of retaking occupied territory.
Cluster munitions are fired on a position and drop explosive bomblets over a wider area, raising the risk that unexploded ordinance can essentially turn into land mines, sitting in the ground long after being fired and able to be stumbled upon by civilians.
More than 120 countries have said they won’t use or make cluster munitions and U.S. allies like Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom have reiterated they won’t provide such weapons to Ukraine even though the U.S. is.
On This Week, Raddatz pressed Kirby about why America hasn’t banned the bombs.
He didn’t answer directly, instead saying, “We are very mindful of the concerns about civilian casualties and unexploded ordnance being picked up by civilians or children and being hurt. Of course, we’re mindful of that. And we’re going to focus with Ukraine on de-mining.”
He and other officials have maintained that the munitions will have a very low “dud rate” of unexploded bomblets.
Raddatz also pressed Kirby on the appropriateness of a meeting in April between former senior U.S. national security officials, including former diplomat and outgoing Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass, and senior Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Kirby said the U.S. government was not involved in the talks but was generally aware of them, the first such public acknowledgment of this.
“We weren’t passing messages through them. We weren’t setting the stage for them,” he said. “We weren’t encouraging those discussions or engendering them in any way.”
Raddatz followed up: “Shouldn’t Ukraine have known about those meetings as well?” She also noted that “the Ukrainian officials I’ve talked to since then are not happy about that.”
Kirby said it “is not unusual for people … or other private entities to have discussions with Russian officials about any range of issues” but said, “The president has been adamant: There’ll be nothing said about Ukraine about ending this war without Ukraine at the table. So, I can understand the angst and concern about this. But again, I want to assure the United States government was not behind these talks.”
News of the talks, which broke last week, came just before President Joe Biden headed to Europe on Sunday, first to the U.K. and then to a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, where Ukraine’s membership is expected to be discussed.
Kirby said NATO will continue to support Ukraine but that Kyiv must implement economic and political reforms before joining the alliance — though it will continue to enjoy support from NATO in its fight against Russia until that happens.
That support includes F-16 fighter jets, which Ukraine has been pushing for but aren’t expected to arrive until the end of the year.
“We’re going to be working with some allies and partners to get the F-16 pilots the pilot training going very, very soon,” Kirby said, “and we’re going to work to get those jets to Ukraine just as quickly as possible.”
Kirby said the summit will show no cracks in the countries rallied to Ukraine.
“You’re going to see commitment by all the allies to continue to support their efforts to succeed on the battlefield. You’re also going to see from all the allies a concerted, unified approach to making it clear that NATO is eventually going to be in Ukraine’s future,” he said, “and that in between the time of the war ending and that happening, that the allies will continue to help Ukraine defend itself.”
(VATICAN CITY) — Pope Francis announced Sunday he’s elevating 21 clergymen from around the world to become cardinals in a ceremony later this year.
The pope made the announcement during his noontime Sunday prayer from St. Peter’s Square, saying the ceremony will be held on Sept. 30.
In his decade-long tenure as pope, this will be his ninth consistory.
The new cardinals come from countries including the United States, Italy, Argentina, Switzerland, South Africa, Spain, Colombia, South Sudan, Hong Kong, Poland, Malaysia, Tanzania and Portugal.
“Let us pray for the new Cardinals, so that, confirming their adhesion to Christ, the merciful and faithful High Priest, they might help me in my ministry as Bishop of Rome for the good of the entire Holy People faithful to God,” Francis said during Sunday’s service, according to Vatican News.
Following tensions between Hong Kong and the Catholic Church, the pope picked Bishop Stephen Chow of Hong Kong as one of the men to become cardinal.
The Vatican also named Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, a top official in Jerusalem, which has a small catholic community, to become a cardinal.
The pope named Archbishop Christophe Pierre, from the U.S., as a cardinal-elect. It’s rare to see a papal representative from the U.S. become a cardinal.
Last year, Pope Francis elevated Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego, California, to cardinal during his August consistory. McElroy was one of 20 Vatican-appointed cardinals who was elevated in 2022.
McElroy, considered a progressive in the church, has criticized bishops in the U.S. for denying holy communion to politicians who support abortion rights. He also signed a statement, alongside other bishops, supporting LGBTQIA youth.
After the ceremony, there will be 137 cardinal electors — all under 80 years old — who will be able to enter a conclave to choose the next pope.
The full list of new cardinal electors:
Archbishop Robert Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops;
Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches;
Archbishop Víctor Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith;
Archbishop Emil Tscherrig, retired apostolic nuncio
Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the U.S.;
Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem;
Archbishop Stephen Brislin, Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa
Archbishop Ángel Sixto, Archbishop of Córdoba, Argentina;
Archbishop Luis José Rueda Aparicio of Bogotá, Colombia;
Archbishop Grzegorz Ryś, Archbishop of Łódź, Poland;
Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, Archbishop of Juba, South Sudan;
Archbishop José Cobo Cano, Archbishop of Madrid;
Archbishop Protase Rugambwa, coadjutor Archbishop of Tabora, Tanzania;
Bishop Sebastian Francis of Penang, Malaysia;
Bishop Stephen Chow, Bishop of Hong Kong;
Bishop François-Xavier Bustillo, bishop of Ajaccio, France;
Bishop Américo Manuel Alves Aguiar, auxiliary bishop of Lisbon, Portugal;
Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime, Superior General of the Salesians of Don Bosco.
ABC News’ Melissa Adan and Matthew Vann contributed to this report.
