when the pope announced the names of new cardinals at a Secret Consistory, that is, a consistory that only churchmen attended, the names of new cardinals would be read out, followed by those of archbishops and bishops. The name was changed from the Sacred Consistorial Congregation to the Congregation for Bishops in 1967.

On 13 July 2022, Pope Francis appointed women as members of this Dicastery for the first time, two religious and one laywoman