Pope names 36 prelates to participate in October Synod discussions

September 18, 2012

Pope Benedict XVI has named 36 prelates to participate in the 13th general assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will meet in Rome in October to discuss the “new evangelization.”

The prelates named by the Pope will join with other bishops appointed by their respective episcopal conferences for the Synod discussions, which are scheduled to open October 7 and conclude October 28.

Pope Benedict named 12 cardinals, 1 patriarch, 11 archbishops, and 8 bishops as Synod fathers. He also named 4 priests who head influential religious communities. Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles was the only American on the Pope’s list of appointments.

The full list of Synod fathers named by the Pope follows:

1. Cardinal Josip Bozanic of Zagreb, Croatia;
2. Cardinal Peter Erdo of Budapest, the president of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences;
3. Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay, the secretary general of Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences;
4. Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne;
5. Cardinal George Pell of Sydney;
6. Cardinal Polycarp Pengo of Dar-es-Salaam, the president of the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar;
7. Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo;
8. Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna;
9. Cardinal Lluis Martinez Sistach of Barcelona;
10. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dean of the College of Cardinals;
11. Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome;
12. Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois of Paris;
13. Patriarch Francesco Moraglia of Venice;
14. Archbishop Hector Ruben Aguer of La Plata, Argentina;
15. Archbishop Antonio Arregui Yarza of Guayaquil, Ecuador, president of the Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference.
16. Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla, president of the Latin American Episcopal Council;
17. Archbishop John Atcherley Dew of Wellington, New Zealand, president of the Federation of Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Oceania;
18. Archbishop Jose Horacio Gomez of Los Angeles;
19. Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham, England;
20. Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria;
21. Archbishop Jose Octavio Ruiz Arenas, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization;
22. Archbishop Ricardo Antonio Tobon Restrepo of Medellin, Colombia;
23. Archbishop Filippo Santoro of Taranto, Italy;
24. Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila;
25. Bishop Benedito Beni dos Santos of Lorena, Brazil;
26. Bishop Enrico Dal Covolo S.D.B., rector of the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome;
27. Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez, prelate of Opus Dei;
28. Bishop Menghisteab Tesfamariam, eparch of Asmara, Eritrea;
29. Bishop Luigi Negri of San Marino-Montefeltro, Italy;
30. Bishop Dominique Rey of Frejus-Toulon, France;
31. Bishop Santiago Jaime Silva Retamales, auxiliary of Valparaiso, Chile and secretary general of CELAM;
32. Bishop Alberto Francisco Sanguinetti Montero of Canelones, Uruguay;
33. Father Julian Carron, president of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation;
34. Father Jose Panthaplamthottiyil, prior general of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate;
35. Father Renato Salvatore, superior general of the Clerks Regular Ministers to the Sick (Camillians); and
36. Father Heinrich Walter, superior general of the Schoenstatt Fathers.

 

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Further information:

• Synod Fathers of the Thirteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (VIS)