Pope makes new appointments in Vatican offices

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has named Spanish-born Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo, who has held the No. 2 post at the Vatican office that oversees the world’s religious orders, to be coadjutor archbishop of Mérida-Badajoz, Spain.

The Vatican announced the appointment Sept. 14.

Archbishop Rodríguez, 70, was minister general of the Franciscans from 2003 to 2013, when Pope Francis appointed him secretary of the then-Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. He will continue his work at the dicastery until Oct. 31.

Other papal appointments the same day included:

Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro, 57, was named undersecretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, which is led by Cardinal José Tolentino Mendonça. The Italian Jesuit, who has a doctorate in theology, has been director of the influential Jesuit journal, La Civiltà Cattolica, since 2011 and has been writing for it since 1998. He will take up his new post at the dicastery, which currently has two undersecretaries, Jan. 1, 2024.

Polish Jesuit Father Marek Inglot, 62, has been named president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, succeeding French Norbertine Father Bernard Ardura, 75, who had led the committee since 2009.

Father Inglot is a professor in the Pontifical Gregorian University’s department of history and cultural heritage of the church. He co-authored a book, based on his doctoral dissertation, titled, “How the Jesuits Survived Their Repression: The Society of Jesus in the Russian Empire,” which covers the society’s official repression in 1773 until its restoration in 1814.