Pope Francis has named 15 new cardinals from 14 nations, including Tonga, New Zealand, Cape Verde and Myanmar, reflecting the diversity of the church and its growth in Asia and Africa.

Other cardinals hail from Ethiopia, Thailand and Vietnam. Another is from Sicily, where the church in recent decades has been galvanising public rejection of the mafia.

Referring to the Vatican, Francis told faithful in St Peter’s Square that the churchmen come from every continent and “show the indelible tie with the church of Rome to churches in the world”.

In addition to the 15 new cardinals – who are under 80 and thus eligible to vote for the next pope – Francis bestowed the honour on five older churchmen. He said they distinguished themselves for their work in the Vatican bureaucracy, and in diplomatic service in giving witness to their love of Christ and God’s people. Those included men from Peru and Mozambique.

Speaking from a Vatican window to a crowd in St Peter’s Square, Francis made another surprise announcement. He said that on 12 and 13 February he would lead a meeting of all cardinals to “reflect on the orientations and proposals for the reform of the Roman Curia”, the Vatican’s administrative bureaucracy.

Francis is using his papacy, which began in March 2013, to root out corruption, inefficiency and other problems in the Curia.