New Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints

Today at noon the Supreme Pontiff has named H.E. Archbishop Angelo Amato SDB, until now Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, new Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. This appointment, which had been rumoured in the Italian press in recent weeks, means that the possible nomination of Cardinal Cañizares Llovera, the Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain, as Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship has become more credible, since Msgr. Amato - who will be raised to the cardinalate at the next consistory, together with Archbishop Burke, the new Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura - was the only other serious name so far mentioned, apart from that of Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, who however seems now more likely to return to his native Ceylon as Archbishop of its capital Colombo, where he might help to bring and end to the civil war, for which he had already done much as bishop of Ratnapura.

The new Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, also named today, is Fr Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer SJ, now raised to the dignity of Archbishop with the titular see of Tibica. Fr Ladaria is a very renowned Professor of Dogmatics at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Secretary General of the International Theological Commission, and has decisively contributed to the 2000 declaration Dominus Jesus.

Posted by Gregor Kollmorgen on 9.7.08