Belgian Dominique Mathieu, the Archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan, will be made a cardinal by Pope Francis on Saturday.
The 61-year-old Belgian Franciscan priest from Arlon is one of 21 new cardinals to be created by the Pope at the consistory on 7 December.
Dominique Joseph Mathieu is one of three French-speaking bishops on the list, alongside Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco of Algiers and Archbishop Ignace Bessi Dogbo of Abidjan. Mathieu was appointed Archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan in January 2021.
With the creation of these 21 new cardinals, the total number of cardinals will rise to 256. This 10th consistory of Pope Francis will also see the elevation of both the youngest and the oldest new cardinals: 44-year-old Ukrainian Archbishop of Melbourne, Mykola Bychok, and 99-year-old Italian Apostolic Nuncio, Angelo Acerbi.
Mathieu was born in Arlon in 1963 and studied economics. He began his professional career in Halle (15km south of Brussels) in 1987 and was ordained in Damme in 1989.
