Resignations and Appointments (original) (raw)

Appointment of prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints

Confirmation and appointment of the Council of Cardinals

Appointment of ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences

Appointment of prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints

The Holy Father has appointed as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints His Excellency Bishop Marcello Semeraro, until now bishop of Albano and secretary of the Council of Cardinals to assist the Holy Father in the governance of the Universal Church and to draw up a plan for the revision of the Apostolic Constitution “Pastor Bonus” on the Roman Curia.

Confirmation and appointment of the Council of Cardinals

His Holiness Francis has confirmed as coordinator of the Council of Cardinals to assist the Holy Father in the governance of the Universal Church and to draw up a plan for the revision of the Apostolic Constitution “Pastor Bonus” on the Roman Curia His Eminence Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

The Holy Father has furthermore confirmed as members of the aforementioned Council the Eminent Cardinals Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State; Seán Patrick O’Malley, archbishop of Boston, United States of America; Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay, Italy; Reinhard Marx, archbishop of München und Freising, Federal Republic of Germany; and Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State.

The Supreme Pontiff has also appointed as members of the same Council His Eminence Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; and has appointed as secretary of the same Council His Excellency Bishop Marco Mellino, titular of Cresima, until now adjunct secretary.

Appointment of ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences

The Holy Father has appointed Professor Reinhard Genzel, director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, as ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Curriculum vitae

Professor Reinhard Genzel was born in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany, on 24 March 1952. He graduated in physics and astronomy from the University of Bonn in 1975, where he also received his PhD in 1978. He has taught at various universities and has been involved, above all, in the study of wide base interferometry and infrared medium reflex of galactic stellar formation regions. Professor Genzel has received many awards and recognitions for his research, culminating in the Nobel Prize for Physics, awarded in 2020. He is a member of several Academies, including the European Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society. He is currently director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching (Germany).