VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday officially named six new non-European cardinals to the body that will elect his successor, saying the move underlined the Church's diversity.

The 85-year-old pontiff presided over the ceremony in St Peter's Basilica that elevated the six prelates to the Catholic Church's College of Cardinals.

The body "presents a variety of faces, because it expresses the face of the universal Church," he said in a development that has been welcomed by critics concerned that the college has become increasingly Euro-centric under Benedict.

"In this consistory, I want to highlight ... that the Church is the Church of all peoples," he said during the ceremony during which the new "princes of the Church" received scarlet red birettas and gold rings.

The new cardinals come from Colombia, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, the Philippines and the United States and join the elite body that advises the pope and elects his successor upon his death.

They are American James Michael Harvey, Lebanon's Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, India's Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, John Onaiyekan of Nigeria, Colombian Ruben Salazar Gomez and Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines.

Announcing the names of the new cardinals last month, Benedict told bishops that he wanted to show that "the Church belongs to all peoples, speaks all languages."

During the last consistory held in February, 16 of the 22 new cardinals named were from Europe.

Saturday's consistory follows the death of several cardinals in recent months and will bring the number of those eligible to vote back up to the maximum of 120.

Cardinals must be under 80 years old to take part in a papal election although they can stay on as non-voting cardinals after they reach that threshold.

There are now 62 European cardinals eligible to vote compared with 67 in February, as well as 14 North Americans, 21 South Americans, 11 Africans and 11 Asians.