Words of the Holy Father
Brief biographies of the Cardinals to be created
During today’s Angelus, the Holy Father Francis announced a Consistory for the creation of new cardinals:
Words of the Holy Father
And now I would like to announce that next 30 September I will hold a Consistory for the appointment of new Cardinals. Where they come from expresses the universality of the Church, which continues to proclaim the merciful love of God to all people of the earth. In addition, the insertion of the new Cardinals in the Diocese of Rome, manifests the inseparable bond between the See of Peter and the local Churches spread throughout the world.
Here are the names of the new Cardinals:
Archbishop Robert Francis PREVOST, O.S.A., Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops
Archbishop Claudio GUGEROTTI, Prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches
Archbishop Víctor Manuel FERNÁNDEZ, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
Archbishop Emil Paul TSCHERRIG, Apostolic Nunzio
Archbishop Christophe Louis Yves Georges PIERRE, Apostolic Nunzio
Archbishop Pierbattista PIZZABALLA, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
Archbishop Stephen BRISLIN, Archbishop of the Capetown (Kaapstad)
Archbishop Ángel Sixto ROSSI, S.J., Archbishop of Córdoba
Archbishop Luis José RUEDA APARICIO, Archbishop of Bogotá
Archbishop Grzegorz RYŚ, Archbishop of Łódź
Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin MULLA, Archbishop of Juba
Archbishop José COBO CANO, Archbishop of Madrid
Archbishop Protase RUGAMBWA, Coadjutor Archbishop of Tabora
Bishop Sebastian FRANCIS, Bishop of Penang
Bishop Stephen CHOW SAU-YAN, S.J., Bishop of Hong Kong
Bishop François-Xavier BUSTILLO, O.F.M. Conv., Bishop of Ajaccio
Bishop Américo Manuel ALVES AGUIAR, Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon
Reverend Ángel FERNÁNDEZ ARTIME, s.d.b., Rector Major of the Salesians
Together with them, I will add to the members of the College of Cardinals two archbishops and one religious who have distinguished themselves for their service to the Church:
Archbishop Agostino MARCHETTO, Apostolic Nuncio.
Archbishop Diego Rafael PADRÓN SÁNCHEZ, Archbishop Emeritus of Cumaná
Father Luis Pascual DRI, OFM Cap., Confessor of the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompei, Buenos Aires
Let us pray for the new Cardinals, so that, confirming their adhesion to Christ, the merciful and faithful High Priest (cf. Heb 2:17), they might help me in my ministry as Bishop of Rome for the good of the entire Holy People faithful to God.
The following are brief biographies of the Cardinals to be created:
Archbishop Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops
Archbishop Robert Francis Prevost was born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago, Illinois, United States of America. From the age of 18 to 22 years he studied at Villanova University, Pennsylvania. On 1 September of the same year, he entered the novitiate of the Order of San Agustín (O.S.A.). On 29 August 1981 he gave his religious vows. During the same years he studied at the Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, where he received a Master of Divinity (Theology), specializing in intercultural mission (1982). In 1987 he was awarded a doctorate in theology.
In 1988 he was sent to the mission of Trujillo, in order to be the director of a common formation project for Augustinian aspirants of the vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos and Apurímac. There he served as prior of the community (1988-1992), director of formation (1988-1998) and teacher of the professed (1992-1998).
In 1999 he returned to the United States, elected prior provincial of the “Mother of Good Counsel” province, Chicago. After two and a half years, the Ordinary General Chapter elected him prior general, a ministry the Order entrusted to him again in 2007. He was therefore responsible for the planning and management processes of the Augustinian Order around the world.
Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, on 3 November 2014, raising him to episcopal dignity as titular bishop of Sufar. On 7 November, he took canonical possession of the diocese. He was ordained bishop of Chiclayo on 12 December 2014.
On 15 April 2020, the Pope appointed him apostolic administrator of the diocese of Callao.
Since 2023 he has served as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.
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Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches
Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti was born in Verona in 1955, entered the Pious Society of Don Nicola Mazza, and was ordained a priest in 1982.
He was awarded a licentiate in Eastern languages and literature from the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, as well as a licentiate in liturgy from the Pontifical Saint Anselm Athenaeum, and a doctorate in oriental ecclesiastical sciences from the Pontifical Oriental Institute.
As a lecturer, he has taught in the Universities of Venice, Padua and Rome, as well as at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical Oriental Institute.
He entered the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in 1985 and became under-secretary in 1997.
He was appointed archbishop in 2002, and was apostolic nuncio in countries of the eastern Christian tradition: from 2002 in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. In 2011 Pope Benedict XVI sent him to Belarus, and Pope Francis sent him as nuncio in Ukraine from 2015 to 2020 (the country with the largest number of Catholics of eastern rite), and then in Great Britain.
Since January 2023 he has served as prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.
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Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández was born on 18 July 1962 in the municipality of Alcira Gigena, in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. He received his formation at the major seminary of Córdoba. In 1988 he was awarded a licentiate in theology with biblical specialization at the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome, and in 1990 a doctorate in theology at the Faculty of Theology of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina.
On 21 December 1985 he was ordained a deacon, and on 15 August 1986 he received priestly ordination in the city of Río Cuarto. There he served as director of catechesis and advisor to lay movements (1989-1997), founder and rector of the Jesús Buen Pastor College of Science and Sacred Philosophy Teachers and of the diocesan Institute for Lay Formation (1990-1993), and parish priest of Santa Teresita (1993-2000). He was also formator and director of studies at the seminary of Río Cuarto (1988-1993, 2000-2007), and delegate for ecumenism from 2003 to 2005. He was dean of the Faculty of Theology of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina and then rector of the same university.
Pope Francis appointed him titular archbishop of Tiburnia on 13 May 2013, and he was consecrated on 15 June of the same year.
In 2017 he was elected president of the Faith and Culture Commission of the Argentine Episcopal Conference.
On 2 June 2018 he was appointed titular archbishop of the archdiocese of La Plata.
On 1 July 2023 he was appointed prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
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Archbishop Emil Paul Tscherrig, Apostolic Nuncio
Archbishop Emil Paul Tscherrig was born in Unterems, Switzerland, on 3 February 1947.
He received priestly ordination on 11 April 1974, and was incardinated in the diocese of Sion, Switzerland. He was awarded a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University.
He entered the Holy See Diplomatic Service in 1978, as secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature, serving in Uganda, South Korea, Mongolia and Bangladesh.
On 26 November 1992 the Pope conferred to him the titular of Honorary Prelate of His Holiness.
On 4 May 1996, Pope John Paul II appointed him titular archbishop of Voli and Apostolic Nuncio in Burundi. His episcopal consecration was presided over by Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano on 27 June of the same year.
In 2000 he was appointed Nuncio in Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Grenada, Guyana, Santa Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Bahamas; from 2001, also in Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Suriname and Saint Kitts and Nevis. In 2004 he assumed the Nunciature in South Korea and Mongolia.
In 2008 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as Nuncio in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway), with office in Stockholm, and subsequently, on 5 January 2012,
as Apostolic Nuncio to Argentina.
On 12 September 2017 Pope Francis appointed him Nuncio in Italy and San Marino, succeeding Adriano Bernardini; Archbishop Tscherrig was the first non-Italian to hold the post.
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Archbishop Christophe Louis Yves Georges Pierre, apostolic nuncio
Archbishop Christophe Louis Yves Georges Pierre was born on 30 January 1946 in Rennes, Ille et Vilaine, France. From a family rooted in Rennes and Saint-Malo for many generations, Christophe Pierre started school in Antsirabé, Madagascar, and completed his secondary studies at the College of Saint-Malo, spending one year at the French Lycée in Marrakech, Morocco.
He entered the seminary of Saint-Yves de Rennes in 1963. His formation was interrupted by two years of military service in 1965 and 1966.
He was ordained a priest for the diocese of Rennes, in the cathedral of Saint-Malo, on 5 April 1970.
He obtained a master’s degree in theology from the Catholic Institute of Paris and a doctorate in canon law in Rome.
Although he was ordained in the diocese of Rennes, he was vicar in the parish of Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul de Colombes, in the diocese of Nanterre, from 1970 to 1973.
He then entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy of Rome. His first role was in Wellington, in New Zealand, in 1977. He was subsequently sent to Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Cuba and Brazil, and in the Holy See Permanent Mission to the Offices of the United Nations and the international institutions in Geneva.
On 12 July 1995, Pope John Paull II appointed him Apostolic Nuncio in Haiti, conferring to him the title of titular archbishop of Gunela. He was consecrated by Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano on 24 September in the Cathedral of Saint-Vincent de Saint-Malo.
In 1999 he was transferred to Kampala in Uganda.
In 2007 he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio in Mexico and on 12 April 2016 he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio in the United States of America.
On 30 May 2016 he was honoured by the Mexican government with the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle by decree published in the Official Gazzette of the Federation (Mexico).
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His Beatitude Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
His Beatitude Pierbattista Pizzaballa was born in Cologno al Serio, Bergamo, Italy, on 21 April 1965. He attended Le Grazie middle schools and seminary in Rimini and was awarded his high school diploma at the Archepiscopal Seminary of Ferrara (June 1984). He entered the order of Friars Minor on 5 September 1984 in Ferrara (Santo Spirito) and spent the year of the novitiate in the Franciscan Shrine of La Verna (Arezzo, Italy). He gave his provisional vows in Verna on 7 September 1985. In Bologna, at the Church of Sant’Antonio, he gave his solemn vows on 10 October 1989, and on 15 September 1990, he was ordained a priest.
After a period in Rome, he transferred to the Holy Land, to Jerusalem, in October 1990. After his philosophical and theological studies, he was awarded a licentiate in biblical theology from the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem. His Beatitude Pizzaballa speaks Italian, modern Hebrew, and English. In 1995, he edited the publication of the Roman Missal in Hebrew, and has translated various liturgical texts into Hebrew for the Catholic communities in Israel.
On 2 July 1999 he formally entered the service of the Custody of the Holy Land. He held the role of vicar general of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem for the pastoral care of Catholics of Hebrew expression in Israel. Since 2008 he has served as consultor in the Commission for the Relations with the Jews of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He made his solemn entrance in Saint Saviour on 2 June 2004, the Holy Sepulchre on 3 June 2004, Bethlehem on 4 June 2004, and Nazareth on 9 June of the same year. Pierbattista Pizzaballa was appointed Custos of the Holy Land for the first time in May 2004, for a six-year period. In May 2010 he was reconfirmed by the Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, for another three-year mandate, and then in June 2013 for the following three years.
On 24 June 2016, His Holiness Pope Francis appointed Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa as apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem sede vacante, until the appointment of a new Patriarch. On 15 July 2016, during the meeting of the College of Consultors of the Latin Patriarchate, His Beatitude Patriarch Emeritus Fouad Twal proceeded to transfer his powers to Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who was appointed apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, as per Pope Francis' decree.
The episcopal ordination took place in September 2016 in Bergamo, Italy.
On 24 October 2020, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa as the new Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
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Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town (Kaapstad)
Archbishop Stephen Brislin was born in Welkom on 24 September 1956.
He completed his first studies at the Convent of Saint Agnes and CBC, Welkom.
He entered the seminary, studying philosophy at Saint John Vianney, Pretoria, and theology at the Missionary Institute of London.
He was ordained a priest on 19 November 1983.
On 17 October 2006, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him bishop of Kroonstad in South Africa, and he was ordained on 28 January 2007.
On 18 December 2009 he was elected archbishop of Cape Town, taking canonical possession of the see on 7 February 2010, on the Solemnity of Our Lady of the Flight into Egypt, the patronal feast of the archdiocese of Cape Town.
From 2013 to 2019 he served as president of the South African Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
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8. Archbishop Ángel Sixto Rossi, S.J., Córdoba
Archbishop Ángel Sixto Rossi, S.J., was born in Córdoba, Argentina, on 11 August 1958.
In 1976 he entered the novitiate of the then-Argentine province of the Society of Jesus. After his studies in philosophy and theology, carried out partly in Ecuador, on 12 December 1986 he received priestly ordination. He graduated in spiritual theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome with a thesis on spiritual discernment in Saint Ignatius.
From 1990 to 1992 he was rector of the Church of El Salvador, Buenos Aires, and in the same period he opened the Hogar San José for the homeless.
In 1992 he created the Manos Abiertas Foundation, which currently provides aid to the poorest and most vulnerable in various social assistance centres located in ten cities throughout Argentina.
From 1992 to 1995 he served as master of novices of the Society of Jesus, and from 2013 to 2019 he was superior of the Community of Residence in Córdoba.
He has offered numerous Ignatian spiritual exercises to groups of priests, religious and laypeople. Up to the moment of his appointment, he worked as counsellor of the Argentine-Uruguayan province of the Society of Jesus, based in the Society’s main residence in Córdoba, and as coordinator of the Itinerant Missionary Team and spiritual assistant of the Manos Abiertas Foundation.
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Archbishop Luis José Rueda Aparicio of Bogotá
Archbishop Luis José Rueda Aparicio of Bogotá was born in San Gil, Santander, on 3 March 1962. Before entering the seminary, he worked with his father, Don Luis Emilio, in construction, newspaper sales and a cement factory.
On 31 January 1983, he began his studies in philosophy at the San Carlos de San Gil Conciliar Seminary. He continued his theology studies at the archdiocesan Seminary of Bucaramanga, from 1986 to 1989. He received the diaconate on 23 November 1988 and the presbyterate on 23 November 1989.
He completed his postgraduate studies at the Alphonsian Academy in Rome, where he obtained a licentiate in moral theology (1992- 1994).
From January 1990 to January 1992, he was parish priest in Albania (now diocese of Vélez); and parish priest in Curití from January 1992 until August of the same year, when he was sent to Rome to complete his postgraduate studies.
Upon returning to Rome, he was appointed as seminary formator from August 1994 to January 2000. He lived the final two years of this service as parish priest of Pinchote (from January 1999 to January 2001). He was parish vicar of Mogotes from January 2001 to January 2003; parish priest of Barichara and from January 2004 to 2009 pastoral vicar and episcopal vicar of San Gil.
On 2 February 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him bishop of Montelíbano, Córdoba. He received episcopal ordination in the Cathedral of San Gil on 4 April 2012, and took canonical possession of the diocese of Montelíbano on 28 April 2012. On 19 May 2018, Pope Francis appointed him archbishop of Popayán, Cauca.
On 25 April 2020, Pope Francis appointed him metropolitan archbishop of Bogotá, where he took office on 11 June of the same year.
From 13 May 2021 to 25 June 2022, he was apostolic administrator of the diocese of Soacha, Cundinamarca.
On 6 July 2021 he was elected president of the Colombian Episcopal Conference for the three-year period 2021-2024.
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Archbishop Grzegorz Ryś of Łódź
Archbishop Grzegorz Ryś of Łódź was born on 9 February 1964 in Krakow. In the years 1982 to 1988 he studied at the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of Church History of the Pontifical Academy of Theology of Krakow and in the major seminary of the archdiocese of Krakow.
He was ordained a priest on 22 May 1988 in Wawel Cathedral. In 1994 Ryś received his doctorate in theological sciences on the basis of his thesis Medieval Popular Piety in Poland, while in 2000, his Jan Hus in the Face of the Crisis of the Reformed Church, obtained him a postdoctoral degree in the field of history.
From 1988 to 1989 Ryś worked in the parish of Saints Margaret and Catherine in Kęty. From 2004 to 2007 he was the director of the Metropolitan Chapter Archive in Krakow, at the Institute of History of the Faculty of History and Cultural Heritage of the Pontifical John Paul II University (formerly the Pontifical Academy of Theology). In the years from 2007 to 2011 Ryś was rector of the major seminary of the archdiocese of Krakow, and in the years from 2010 to 2011 he was president of the Conference of Polish Theological Seminary Rectors.
On 16 July 2011 Ryś was appointed titular bishop of Arcavica and auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Krakow by Pope Benedict XVI. He was ordained a bishop on 28 September 2011 in Wawel Cathedral, choosing “Virtus in infirmitate” (Power in weakness) as his motto.
On 14 September 2017 Pope Francis appointed Ryś as archbishop of Łódź. He took office as archbishop in the Arch-Cathedral Basilica of Saint Stanislaus Kostka on 4 November 2017. On 29 June 2018, he received the pallium in a ceremony in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome and it was conferred to him on 5 October 2018 in Łódź Cathedral by the Apostolic Nuncio to Poland.
In 2018 Ryś convened the fourth synod in the history of the archdiocese of Łódź on the topic of introducing the permanent diaconate to combat the shortage of priests. In 2019, he introduced the permanent diaconate in the archdiocese and also created the Diocesan Missionary Seminary Redemptoris Mater International of the Neocatechumenal Way.
On 25 June 2020, Ryś was appointed by Pope Francis as apostolic administrator sede plena of the diocese of Kalisz. On 21 November 2020 Pope Francis appointed him member of the Dicastery for Bishops.
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Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla of Juba
Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla was born on 10 January 1964 in Ido, in the region of Eastern Equatoria, Sudan.
He received the Sacrament of the Order for the diocese of Torit on 21 April 1991. After pastoral work in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, he studied for a doctorate from the Pontifical Urbanian University of Rome from 1993 to 1997. His thesis is intitled Towards religious dialogue and reconciliation in Sudan.
Ameyu then taught at the seminary of Juba, capital of South Sudan, where he is also rector. Since 2013 he has also worked in the administration of the Catholic University of South Sudan.
On 3 January 2019 Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Torit, a diocese that had remained vacant for over five years following the death of Bishop Akio Johnson Mutek in 2013.
Archbishop Paulino Lukudu Loro M.C.C.I., of Juba, consecrated him a bishop on 3 March of the same year.
On 12 December 2019, Pope Francis appointed him archbishop of Juba. The inauguration took place on 22 March of the same year. On the same date he was also appointed as apostolic administrator of the diocese of Torit.
He was also apostolic administrator of the diocese of Wau from 21 September 2020 to 24 January 2021.
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Archbishop José Cobo Cano of Madrid
Archbishop José Cobo Cano was born on 20 September 1965 in Jaén, Andalusia, but moved to Madrid in his youth.
He has a solid academic background: a licentiate in civil law; a bachelor’s in theology and a master's degree in Moral Social Theology. His knowledge of the social doctrine of the Church is noteworthy.
On 23 April 1994, he was ordained a priest, incardinated in the archdiocese of Madrid. He has carried out his pastoral ministry in the archdiocese of Madrid, holding posts with a marked social orientation, such as vice-counsellor of the Labour Confraternities (1994-1996); parish vicar (1995-2000) and archpriest (2000) of San Leopoldo; parish priest of San Alfonso María Ligorio (2000-2015); archpriest of Our Lady of Pilar de Aluche-Campamento (2001-2015); member of the Permanent Commission of the II Diocesan Synod of Madrid (2002-2005); episcopal vicar of Vicariate II Northeast (since 2015), member of the Presbyteral Council (2000-2015) and member of the Diocesan Pastoral Council.
On 29 December 2017, Pope Francis appointed José Cobo auxiliary bishop of Madrid.
Within the Spanish Episcopal Conference, he is head of the Secretariat for Migrations and, since March 2020, member of the Episcopal Commission for Social Pastoral Care and Human Promotion.
On 12 June 2023, Pope Francis appointed him archbishop of Madrid. He took possession of the see on 8 July, in the Cathedral of Santa María la Real de La Almudena.
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Archbishop Protase Rugambwa, coadjutor of Tabora
Archbishop Protase Rugambwa was born on 31 May 1960 in Bunena, Tanzania.
After completing his primary studies, he began his ecclesiastical formation in the Minor Seminary of Katoke, and then in Itaga. He then entered the Seminary of Kibosho to study philosophy and in the Saint Charles Lwanga Segerea Higher Seminary to study theology.
At the end of his formation, on 2 September 1990, he was ordained a priest for the diocese of Rulenge-Ngara, in the city of Dar es-Salaam, by Pope John Paul II during his pastoral visit to Tanzania. Shortly after priestly ordination, he was appointed parish vicar of Mabira, until 1991, when he became full professor of liturgy in the minor seminary of Katote, and at the same time chaplain of the hospital of Biharamulo.
In 1994 he decided to move to Italy, where he was awarded a doctorate in pastoral theology from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. After obtaining his doctorate in 1998, he returned to Tanzania and there he began to work as a seminary teacher, vocational director and secretary of the pastoral department of the diocese of Rulenge-Ngara, until 1999. From 2000 to 2002 he was vicar general of the same diocese. Upon returning to Rome, he entered the Roman Curia as official of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Subsequently, on 18 January 2008, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him titular bishop of the diocese of Kigoma. He received episcopal consecration on 13 April of the same year, in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Victory. At the same time, he was elected president of the Department of the Ministry and the Liturgy of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference.
On 26 June 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, with the personal title of archbishop. On 9 November 2017 he was appointed secretary of the same Congregation.
On 13 April 2023 the Holy Father Francis appointed him coadjutor archbishop of Tabora, Tanzania.
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Bishop Sebastian Francis of Penang
Bishop Sebastian Francis of Penang was born on 11 November 1951 in Johor Bahru, and was ordained a priest in Melaka-Johor on 28 July 1977.
He completed his studies in philosophy and theology at the Major Seminary of Penang.
On 28 July 1977 he was ordained a priest for the diocese of Melaka-Johor. Immediately afterwards he was parish vicar of the parish of Saint Francis Xavier in Melaka from 1977 to 1980, and parish vicar of the parish of the Immaculate Conception in Johor Bahru in 1981.
In 1983 he was awarded a licentiate in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical “Saint Thomas Aquinas” University. He returned to his home country, where he was parish vicar of the parish of the Immaculate Conception in Johor Bahru in 1984; professor of dogmatic theology; spiritual director of the Major Seminary of Penang; chaplain of university students in Penang; parish ministr of the parish of the Immaculate Conception in Paulau Ticus and pastoral coordinator from 1985 to 1988; vicar general from 1988 to 2001; parish priest of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Johor Bahru from 1988 to 2004; diocesan minister from 2002 to 2003 and of the new vicar general from 2003; parish priest of the parish of Saint Louis in Kluang from 2004 to 2007; parish priest of the parish of the Immaculate Conception in Paulau Ticus from 2007 to 2011 and parish priest of the parish of Christ the King in Kulai since 2011. In 1991 he graduated in law and transferred to the Maryknoll School of Theology in New York.
On 7 July 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him bishop of Penang. Episcopal ordination was conferred on 20 August in the parish church of Saint Anne in Bukit Mertajam by the metropolitan archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Murphy Nicholas Xavier Pakiam; consecrated by the bishop of Melaka, Johor Paul Tan Chee Ing, and the bishop emeritus of Penang, Antony Selvanayagam.
Since 1 January 2017 he has served as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
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Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-yan, S.J., of Hong Kong
Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-yan, S.J., was born on 7 August 1959 in Hong Kong. After his pre-university studies, he was awarded a degree and a master’s in psychology from the University of Minnesota, United States of America.
He entered the Society of Jesus on 27 September 1984. From 1986 to 1988 he carried out his novitiate and graduated in philosophy in Ireland, continuing his theological studies from 1988 to 1993 in Hong Kong, where he was ordained a priest on 16 July 1994.
He was awarded a master’s degree in Organizational Development (1993-1995) from Loyola University of Chicago, and a PhD in Human Development and Psychology (Ed.D.) from Harvard University in Boston (2000-2006). He gave his perpetual vows on 17 April 2007.
He has held the following offices: since 2007, supervisor of two Jesuit colleges in Hong Kong and Wah Lan, Kowloon; honorary assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong (2008-2015) and Jesuit trainer (2009-2017). Since 2009 he has served as chair of the Commission for Education of the Jesuit Province in China, and since 2012, part-time professor of psychology at the Holy Spirit Diocesan Seminary of Hong Kong; from 2012 to 2014, member of the Presbyteral Council of the diocese of Hong Kong; from 2013 to 2017, provincial consultor, and since 2017, member of the Diocesan Council of Education.
From 1 January 2018 until his appointment as bishop he served as Provincial of the Chinese Province of the Society of Jesus, and from 2020, deputy secretary of the Association of Religious Superiors of Male Institutes of Hong Kong.
In May 2021 he was appointed bishop of the diocese of Hong Kong, China. The see had been vacant since 3 January 2019 when Bishop Michael Yeung died after less than two years in office. He was consecrated on 4 December 2021.
In April 2023, Bishop Chow visited the archdiocese of Beijing. He met Bishop Joseph Li Shan, and visited various churches and the cemetery of Zhalan, where the tomb of Matteo Ricci is preserved. It was the first visit to by a bishop of Hong Kong since 1985.
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Bishop François-Xavier Bustillo, O.F.M. Conv., of Ajaccio
Bishop François-Xavier Bustillo, O.F.M. Conv., was born on 23 November 1968 in in Pamplona, Spain.
He entered the Minor Seminary in Baztán, Navarra, and began his postulancy in the Order of Conventual Franciscans in Padua, Italy, where he completed his philosophical and theological studies at the Sant’Antonio Dottore Theological Institute, graduating in theology from the Institut Catholique de Toulouse in 1997.
He gave his solemn profession on 20 September 1992 and was ordained a priest on 10 September 1994. In the same year, he founded Saint Bonaventure friary in Narbonne, France, with some of his brethren.
He has held the following positions: guardian of the Franciscan Community of Narbonne (1994-2018); parish priest of Saint Bonaventure in Narbonne (1994-2007); provincial Custos of France and Belgium (2006-2018); parish priest in solidum of Sainte-Croix in Narbonnais and member of the Episcopal Council of the diocese of Carcassonne et Narbonne (2007-2018); episcopal vicar for Narbonnais-Corbières, and delegate for new spirituality movements and for interreligious dialogue (2012-2018). From 2018 until his appointment as bishop, he was custodian of the Saint-Maximilien Kolbe Convent in Lourdes, episcopal delegate for the sanctuary of Lourdes and for the protection of minors, and since 2020, member of the episcopal council of the diocese of Tarbes et Lourdes.
On 11 May 2021, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Ajaccio. He was consecrated on 13 June 2021 in the cathedral of Ajaccio.
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Bishop Américo Manuel Alves Aguiar, auxiliary of Lisboa (Lisbon)
Bishop Américo Manuel Alves Aguiar was born on 12 December 1973 in Leça do Balio, Matosinhos.
In 1995 he entered the Major Seminary of Porto; he carried out his academic studies at the Catholic University of Theology, Porto, and was awarded a master’s degree in communication sciences in Lisbon.
In 2001 he was ordained a priest by Bishop Armindo Lopes Coelho.
He has held the following offices: from 2001 to 2002, parish priest of San Pedro de Azevedo, Campanhã; from 2001-2004, notary in the diocesan Curia; from 2002 to 2015, head of the Information/Communication Office; from 2002 to 2008, regional assistant of the National Scout Corps; from 2004 to 2015, vicar general, head official of the bishops of Porto, chaplain of the diocesan Curia, and chaplain major of the Mercy of Porto; from 2007 to 2015, vice rector of the diocesan shrine of Santa Rita (Ermesinde); and from 2014 to 2015, parish priest in solidum of the Cathedral. He was a member of the Cabido Portucalense from 2017 to February 2019.
He was director of the National Secretariat of Social Communication from 7 April 2016 to 1 May 2019.
He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Lisbon by Pope Francis on 1 March 2019, and was ordained on 31 March 2019.
He is president of the World Youth Day Lisbon 2023 Foundation, and director of the Department of Communication of the Patriarchate of Lisbon.
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The Reverend Ángel Fernández Artime, S.D.B., Rector Major of the Salesians
The Reverend Ángel Fernández Artime, S.D.B., was born on 21 August 1960 in Gozón-Luanco, Asturias, Spain. He gave his first vows on 3 September 1978 and his perpetual vows on 17 June 1984 in Santiago de Compostela, and was ordained a priest on 4 July 1987, in León.
Originally from the province of León, he was awarded a licentiate in pastoral theology and in philosophy and pedagogy.
He served as provincial delegate for youth ministry, director of the school in Ourense, provincial counsellor and vicar and, from 2000 to 2006, Provincial.
After participating in the technical commission that prepared the 26th General Chapter, in 2009 he was appointed Superior of the Province of South Argentina, based in Buenos Aires. On 23 December 2013 he was appointed Superior of the new Province of Mediterranean Spain, dedicated to “Mary Help of Christians”, but before being able to take up this new service, on 25 March 2014, he was elected by the 27th General Chapter as the new Rector Major of the Salesian Congregation and 10th Successor of Don Bosco.
On 11 March 2020, he was confirmed as Rector Major of the Salesians, for a second six-year term 2020-2026.
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Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, Apostolic Nuncio
Archbishop Agostino Marchetto was born on 28 August 1940, attended the schools of the Patronato Leone XIII in Vicenza, entered the seminary and was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of Vicenza on 28 June 1964, by Bishop Carlo Zinato of Vicenza.
On 31 August he was appointed titular archbishop of Astigi, with the role of Apostolic Nuncio in Madagascar and Mauritius. He received episcopal consecration on 1 November 1985 by Cardinal Sebastiano Baggio.
On 7 December 1990 he was transferred as Apostolic Nuncio to Tanzania, and on 18 May 1994 as Apostolic Nuncio in Belarus.
On 8 July 1999 he returned to the Roman Curia as an official of the Secretariat of State.
On 6 November 2001 Pope John Paul II appointed him secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.
On 25 August 2010, on reaching his seventieth birthday, he retired from his position to devote himself to study, in particular the hermeneutics of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Francis considers him the greatest expert in hermeneutics of the Second Vatican Council.
Bishop Marchetto speaks French, English and Spanish in addition to Italian.
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Archbishop Diego Rafael Padrón Sánchez, emeritus of Cumaná
Archbishop Diego Rafael Padrón Sánchez was born in Montalbán on 17 May 1939.
He completed his secondary studies at the minor seminary in Valencia and his priestly studies in Caracas, at the Santa Rosa de Lima Interdiocesan Seminary, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and letters.
He studied group dynamics and youth pastoral care at the Central de Juventudes in Bogotá, Colombia. He holds a degree in biblical theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and a diploma in Oriental Biblical Sciences from the Franciscanum Institute in Jerusalem, Israel.
He is a professor of Spanish, literature and Latin, and a graduate of the Professional Institute of Teaching at the Pedagogical Institute in Caracas.
He served as professor of Latin and Biblical Greek at the Nuestra Señora del Socorro Seminary in Valencia; biblical theology at the University Seminary Institute of Caracas (IUSI) from 1983 - 1994 and philosophy of language and philosophy of history at the San Pablo Apóstol Major Seminary in Maturín.
He was ordained a priest on 4 August 1963. He has served as parish priest of several parishes in Valencia.
Pope John Paul II appointed him auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Caracas and titular bishop of Gisipa; he was consecrated on 27 May 1990 in the Cathedral of Caracas.
On 7 May 2002, the Holy Father John Paul II appointed him metropolitan archbishop of the archdiocese of Cumaná.
He was president of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference for two consecutive periods.
He is currently parish priest of La Inmaculada de Camoruco in the archdiocese of Valencia in Venezuela.
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The Reverend Fr. Luis Pascual Dri, OFM Cap., confessor in the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Buenos Aires
He was born in Federación, Entre Ríos Province, Argentina, on 17 April 1927, into a family where all but one of the children consecrated themselves to God in religious life. From a very young age he worked in the fields, tending animals and planting corn and alfalfa. He attended the local rural school.
He entered the Capuchin Seminary in January 1938 when he was only eleven years old, and completed his primary and secondary studies there. In the Montevideo district of Nuevo París, Uruguay, he entered the novitiate. He took the Capuchin habit on 21 February 1945. In 1949 he gave his perpetual profession. On 29 March 1952, he was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of Montevideo.
He was director of the San Francisco de Carrasco Minor Seminary in 1953. In 1955 he was director of the Seraphic Seminary in Villa Gdor, Galvez, Argentina. In 1959, he was master of novices at San Francisco de Carrasco.
In 1961, he specialized in Europe as formator of novices. In 1962 he began his mission as educator at the Colegio y Liceo Secco Illa de Uruguay, until 1974. He subsequently served as parish priest in Empalme and Colonia Nicolich. In 1976 he was master of novices in the city of Minas, Uruguay. At the beginning of 1983, he was assigned to the parish of San Enrique de Villa Gdor, in Galvez. In 1987, he was appointed parish priest of Santa María de la Ayuda in El Cerro de Montevideo. At the beginning of 2000, he was transferred as parish priest to the Shrine of Nuestra Señora De Pompeya in Buenos Aires, where he spent three years. He was then appointed parish priest in Mar del Plata. In 2007, he returned to the Shrine of Nuestra Señora de Pompeya.
Today, at the age of 96, he continues to serve the Lord from the confessional where he spends hours every day administering the sacrament of reconciliation.
