Appointment of archbishop of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie, Italy
Appointment of bishop of Franceville, Gabon
Appointment of apostolic nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, and apostolic delegate in the Antilles
Appointment of papal legate for the Basilicas of Saint Francis and Saint Mary of the Angels in Assisi
Appointment of ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
Appointment of ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences
Appointment of archbishop of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie, Italy
The Holy Father has appointed as archbishop of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie, Italy, the Rev. Msgr. Leonardo D’Ascenzo, of the clergy of the diocese of Velletri-Segni, currently rector of the “Pontifical Leonine College” Regional Seminary in Anagni.
Msgr. Leonardo D’Ascenzo
Msgr. Leonardo D’Ascenzo was born on 31 August 1961 in Valmontone, province of Rome and diocese of Velletri-Segni. After his high school examinations at the State Technical-Industrial Institute, he entered the “Pontifical Leonine College” Regional Seminary in Anagni for his studies in philosophy and theology, followed by the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he obtained a licentiate in dogmatic theology and a higher degree in science of education. He obtained a doctorate in spiritual theology from the Pontifical “Teresianum” Theological Faculty.
He was ordained a priest on 5 July 1986 for the diocese of Velletri-Segni, and was parish vicar of Santa Maria in Segni, parish priest of Santa Croce in Artena, and parish vicar of the Cathedral of San Clemente in Velletri. He was the first diocesan assistant of Catholic Action for young people and then unitary assistant.
He has also served as spiritual father, vice-rector and then director of the preparatory year of the “Pontifical Leonine College” in Anagni, director of the centre for vocations, both diocesan and regional, and vice-director of the National Centre for Vocations of the Italian Episcopal Conference.
He is lecturer in spiritual theology at the “Pontifical Leonine College”, and collaborator in the parish of Santa Barbara in Colleferro. On 21 February 2004 he was named Chaplain of His Holiness.
In July 2015 he was appointed as rector of the “Pontifical Leonine College” in Anagni.
Appointment of bishop of Franceville, Gabon
The Holy Father has appointed as bishop of the diocese of Franceville, Gabon, the Rev. Jean-Patrick Iba-Ba, currently rector of the “Saint Augustin” national major seminary in Libreville.
Appointment of apostolic nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, and apostolic delegate in the Antilles
The Holy Father has appointed as apostolic nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, and as apostolic delegate in the Antilles, H.E. Msgr. Fortunatus Nwachukwu, titular archbishop of Acquaviva, currently apostolic nuncio in Nicaragua.
Appointment of papal legate for the Basilicas of Saint Francis and Saint Mary of the Angels in Assisi
The Pope has appointed as papal legate for the Basilicas of Saint Francis and Saint Mary of the Angels in Assisi His Eminence Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general emeritus of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome.
Appointment of ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
The Holy Father has appointed as ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Professor Helen Margaret Blau, lecturer in cellular microbiology and director of the Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology at Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America.
Professor Helen Margaret Blau
Professor Blau was born in London in 1948. After receiving a B.A. from the University of York, she obtained an M.A. and a research doctorate from Harvard University (1975). She is lecturer in the Department of Pharmacology of the University of Stanford, of which she has been appointed director and where, since 2002, she has served as director of the Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology.
Professor Blau’s discovery of the reversibility of the state of cellular differentiation has highlighted the plasticity of cells, demonstrating that cell differentiation requires a continuous regulation system and that a change in the stoichiometry of the transcription factors induces a reprogramming of the cell nucleus. This discovery is the basis of the concept of induction of a pluripotent stem cell.
Professor Blau has received various awards, such as the FASEB Excellence in Science Award (1999) and the AACR-Irving-Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lectureship (2011), and she has been appointed as a member of various institutions, including the National Academy of Sciences (2016). She is also known for her constant support of women in science and for the formation of leaders in the field of muscular biology and regenerative medicine.
Appointment of ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences
The Holy Father has appointed as ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Professor John Francis McEldowney, lecturer in law at the University of Warwick Faculty of Law, Great Britain.
Professor John Francis McEldowney
Professor McEldowney was born in 1953 and graduated from the University of Cambridge. He specialized in common law, human rights and financial law, and is a lecturer in law, in particular public law and legal history, at the Faculty of Law of the University of Warwick, and vice president of the “Study of the Parliament Group”.
In 2000 he was a Visiting Fellow at the Supreme Court of Venezuela and in 2001 he was elected as Distinguished Visiting Fellow of the New Zealand Law Foundation. In 2004 he gave the tenth “High Fitzpatrick Lecture” on “Biography and Bibliography” at Kings Inns, Dublin, Ireland. He has been appointed as visiting professor in universities in Japan and France. In 2004 he received an “Medal of Honour” from the University of Lille.
He has worked as an external examiner for various universities, including the Open University. Professor McEldowney made a notable contribution to the research carried out by the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution on the Parliamentary project on the European Constitution in 2002-2003, and on the legislative process in 2003-2004. He is currently working on a new book on environmental law.
