Pope Paul VI () created 143 cardinals in six consistories. His predecessor Pope John XXIII had disregarded the centuries-long tradition that limited the College of Cardinals to seventy members, increasing its size to as high as 88 in 1961. Paul continued this practice, and with his appointments the College grew to 103 in 1965, 118 in 1967, 134 in 1969. He then instituted a new rule that diminished the significance of the size of the College. In November 1970 he announced that as of 1 January 1971 only a cardinal who had not yet reached his 80th birthday would be allowed to enter a conclave. When the 1973 consistory increased the size of the College to 145, the number of those under 80 who constituted the cardinal electors was 117. In 1975, he set the maximum number of cardinal electors at 120. Each of his later consistories in 1976 and 1977 brought the number of electors to the full complement of 120.
Three of those Paul named a cardinal became pope, Pope John Paul I, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI, who was the last survivor of the cardinals whom Paul named. Among the others he made cardinal were the first from Benin (Gantin), the Dominican Republic (Beras Rojas), Indonesia (Darmojuwono), Madagascar (Rakotomalala), Nigeria (Ekandem), Senegal (Thiandoum), Sri Lanka (Cooray), Switzerland (Journet), and Vietnam (Trịnh Như Khuê).
22 February 1965
When Paul VI added members to the College for the first time, he increased its numbers from 76 to 103, raising the number of Italians from 26 to 32. The 27 he named included the first cardinal from Sri Lanka and Switzerland, the second black African, and three Eastern Rite Patriarchs. He assigned the patriarchs to the College's highest rank, cardinal bishop, which was previously reserved to six cardinals assigned as bishops of sees near Rome. He said that the growth of the College did not suggest a lesser role for the world's bishops, but reflected the fact that "The proportions of the Church are no longer those of the 16th century".
The ceremonies were reduced from four to two, though still scheduled to extend over four days. At the second, public ceremony, the pope and the new cardinals concelebrated Mass for the first time on such an occasion and Paul, after addressing them briefly in Latin, spoke in Italian "because it is easier for us" and then in French, English, German, and Spanish. The language of the rite was adapted slightly for the patriarchs, and the new cardinals did not demonstrate their obedience by prostrating themselves at the pope's feet. Before the consistory, the Vatican restricted the use of silk in cardinals' attire.
Pope Paul created 27 cardinals on 22 February: the three patriarchs joined the order of cardinal bishops, twenty became cardinal priests, and four cardinal deacons. The patriarchs' relationship to their sees remained unchanged. On 25 February he assigned the others their titles and deaconries, except for Herrera Oria, who received his red biretta from Spain's Francisco Franco on 1 March and then his titular church assignment from Pope Paul on 26 March. +NameTitle when named cardinalCountryMaximos IV Sayegh (1878–1967)Patriarch of Antioch of the MelkitesPaul Peter Meouchi (1894–1975)Patriarch of Antioch of the MaronitesStéphanos I Sidarouss (1904–1987)Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts EgyptJosyf Slipyj (1892–1984)Major-Archbishop of Lviv-GaliciaLorenz Jaeger (1892–1975)Archbishop of PaderbornThomas Cooray (1901–1988)Archbishop of Colombo in Ceylon CeylonJosef Beran (1888–1969)Archbishop of PragueMaurice Roy (1905–1985)Archbishop of QuebecJoseph-Marie Martin (1891–1976)Archbishop of RouenOwen McCann (1907–1994)Archbishop of Cape Town South AfricaLéon-Étienne Duval (1903–1996)Archbishop of AlgiersErmenegildo Florit (1901–1985)Archbishop of FirenzeFranjo Šeper (1905–1981)Archbishop of ZagrebJohn Heenan (1905–1975)Archbishop of WestminsterJean-Marie Villot (1905–1979)Archbishop of LyonPaul Zoungrana (1917–2000)Archbishop of OuagadougouLawrence Shehan (1898–1984)Archbishop of BaltimoreEnrico Dante (1884–1967)Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations of Prefecture for Pontifical CeremoniesCesare Zerba (1892–1973)Secretary Emeritus of Sacred Congregation of Sacramental DisciplineAgnelo Rossi (1913–1995)Archbishop of São PauloGiovanni Colombo (1902–1992)Archbishop of MilanWilliam Conway (1913–1977)Archbishop of ArmaghÁngel Herrera Oria (1886–1968)Bishop of Malaga SpainFederico Callori di Vignale (1890–1971)Prefect of Prefecture of the Holy Apostolic PalacesJosef-Léon Cardijn (1882–1967)Founder of Young Christian WorkersCharles Journet (1891–1975)TheologianGiulio Bevilacqua (1881–1965)Priest from the Diocese of Brescia
26 June 1967
Pope Paul announced the names of 27 new cardinals on 29 May 1967, and the consistory that followed increased the College from 93 to 118 members, a new high. Twenty were European, including 12 Italians. He again simplified the cardinals' attire and reduced the number of their attendants, but reorganized the ceremonies into three events.
On 26 June Pope Paul created 23 cardinals of the order of cardinal priests and four cardinal deacons. Some 24 of the 27 assembled in the Pius XII auditorium and there received notes that Paul had named them in the closed ceremony. Pope Paul gave 24 of them their titular assignments and deaconries on 29 June. The other three, papal nuncios to Italy (Grano), Portugal (Fürstenberg), and Spain (Riberi), followed the custom of receiving their notices and their red birettas from the head of the government to which they were posted. Pope Paul gave them their birettas and titular churches on 15 July.
+NameTitle when named cardinalCountryNicolás Fasolino (1887–1969)Archbishop of Santa FeAntonio Riberi (1897–1967)Apostolic Nuncio to SpainGiuseppe Beltrami (1889–1973)Apostolic Internuncio to the NetherlandsAlfredo Pacini (1888–1967)Apostolic Nuncio to SwitzerlandGabriel-Marie Garrone (1901–1994)Pro-Prefect of Sacred Congregation for Catholic EducationPatrick O'Boyle (1896–1987)Archbishop of WashingtonEgidio Vagnozzi (1906–1980)Apostolic Delegate to United States of AmericaMaximilien de Furstenberg (1904–1988)Apostolic Nuncio to PortugalAntonio Samorè (1905–1983)Secretary of Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical AffairsFrancesco Carpino (1905–1993)Pro-Prefect of Sacred Congregation for Sacramental DisciplineJosé Clemente Maurer (1900–1990)Archbishop of SucrePietro Parente (1891–1986)Secretary of Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the FaithCarlo Grano (1887–1976)Head of Protocol Emeritus of Secretariat of StateAngelo Dell'Acqua (1903–1972)Substitute for General Affairs of Secretariat of StateDino Staffa (1906–1977)Pro-Prefect of Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic SignaturaPericle Felici (1911–1982)President of Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon LawJohn Krol (1910–1996)Archbishop of PhiladelphiaPierre Veuillot (1913–1968)Archbishop of ParisJohn Cody (1907–1982)Archbishop of ChicagoCorrado Ursi (1908–2003)Archbishop of NapoliAlfred Bengsch (1921–1979)Archbishop of BerlinJustinus Darmojuwono (1914–1994)Archbishop of SemarangKarol Wojtyła (1920–2005)Archbishop of Krakow PolandMichele Pellegrino (1903–1986)Archbishop of TurinAlexandre Renard (1906–1983)Archbishop of ParisFrancis Brennan (1894–1968)Dean of Sacred Roman RotaBenno Gut (1897–1970)Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict
28 April 1969
On 29 March 1969, Pope Paul announced he would increase the size of the College to 134 at a consistory on 28 April. He named 33 new cardinals from 19 countries, the largest group of new cardinals ever created at a consistory until then (later surpassed when John Paul II created 44 cardinals in 2001), and withheld the names of two more. As part of three ceremonies, a new procedure required each to swear an oath of secrecy to "not divulge to their damage or discredit the councils entrusted to me, either directly or indirectly, without the consent of the Holy See".
On 28 April 1969, Pope Paul created 24 cardinals of the order of cardinal priests and nine of the order of cardinal deacons. On 30 April he gave them their red birettas and assigned their titular churches and deaconries. Of the two cardinals he created in pectore, he revealed the name of Štěpán Trochta on 5 March 1973, and at the same time he announced that the other was Iuliu Hossu of Rumania, who died in 1970 without being recognized as a cardinal.
+NameTitle when named cardinalCountryPaul Yü Pin (1901–1978)Archbishop of NanjingAlfredo Scherer (1903–1996)Archbishop of Porto AlegreJulio Rosales (1906–1983)Archbishop of CebuGordon Gray (1910–1993)Archbishop of Saint Andrews and EdinburghPeter McKeefry (1899–1973)Archbishop of WellingtonMiguel Darío Miranda y Gómez (1895–1986)Archbishop of MexicoJoseph Parecattil (1912–1987)Archbishop of ErnakulamJohn Francis Dearden (1907–1988)Archbishop of DetroitFrançois Marty (1904–1994)Archbishop of ParisJérôme Rakotomalala (1914–1975)Archbishop of TananariveGeorge Bernard Flahiff (1905–1989)Archbishop of WinnipegPaul Gouyon (1910–2000)Archbishop of RennesMario Casariego y Acevedo (1909–1983)Archbishop of GuatemalaVicente Enrique y Tarancón (1907–1994)Archbishop of Toledo SpainJoseph Malula (1917–1989)Archbishop of Kinshasa CongoPablo Muñoz Vega (1903–1994)Archbishop of QuitoAntonio Poma (1910–1985)Archbishop of BolognaJohn Carberry (1904–1998)Archbishop of St. LouisTerence Cooke (1921–1983)Archbishop of New York Stephen Kim Sou-hwan (1922–2009)Archbishop of Seoul Arturo Tabera Araoz (1903–1975)Archbishop of Pamplona SpainEugênio Sales (1920–2012)Archbishop of São Salvador da Bahia Joseph Höffner (1906–1987)Archbishop of Cologne John Wright (1909–1979)Bishop of PittsburghPaolo Bertoli (1908–2001)Apostolic Nuncio to FranceSebastiano Baggio (1913–1993)Apostolic Nuncio to BrazilSilvio Oddi (1910–2001)Apostolic Nuncio to Luxembourg and Apostolic Nuncio to BelgiumGiuseppe Paupini (1907–1992)Apostolic Nuncio to ColombiaGiacomo Violardo (1898–1978)Secretary of Sacred Congregation for Sacramental DisciplineJohannes Willebrands (1909–2006)Secretary of Secretariat for Christian UnityMario Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano (1903–1988)Prefect of Prefecture of the Apostolic PalacesSergio Guerri (1905–1992)Secretary of Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic SeeJean Daniélou (1905–1974)Theologian
Cardinal in pectore +NameTitle when named cardinalCountryRevealed as CardinalŠtěpán Trochta (1905–1974)Bishop of Litoměřice5 March 1973
5 March 1973
On 2 February 1973, Pope Paul released the names of thirty new cardinals from 17 countries. The consistory on 5 March brought the number of cardinals to 145, with 117 young enough to serve as cardinal electors. The College had never been larger before, but the size of 145 would regularly be surpassed from 1985 on. The Vatican announced on 12 February that the ceremonies for creating cardinals would be simplied and shortened. Each cardinal's red hat would be delivered by messenger, not ceremoniously imposed by the pope.
At the consistory on 5 March, a one-day ceremony that replaced a series of ceremonies spread across five days, Pope Paul created 24 cardinals of the order of cardinal priests and six of the order of cardinal priests. He gave red birettas and titular church and deaconry assignments to the 29 who were present, all but Jubany Arnau whose health prevented him from attending. He revealed the names of two prelates he had made cardinals in pectore in 1969: Stepan Trochta of Czechoslovakia and Iuliu Hossu of Rumania, who died in 1970. He discussed plans to modify procedures for papal elections, as he later did by limiting the number of electors to 120. He mentioned other ideas he never implemented like adding as voters the patriarchs of the Eastern Rite churches even if not cardinals and allowing the leadership of the Synod of Bishops to participate as electors.