15-member council named for Synod of Bishops

November 16, 2015

The Holy See Press Office has announced the names of the prelates who will assist Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, in his work until the next general assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

Twelve members of the ordinary council of the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops were elected by the synod fathers at the recently concluded Ordinary General Assembly, and three members were appointed by Pope Francis.

The 12 elected by the synod fathers, according to the November 14 announcement, were

• Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna
• Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier of Durban (South Africa)
• Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa (Honduras)
• Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
• Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy
• Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops
• Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai (India)
• Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila
• Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster
• Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
• Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia
• Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto (Italy)

The three selected by Pope Francis are

• Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako of the Chaldean Catholic Church
• Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid
• Archbishop Sérgio da Rocha of Brasilia

Referring to the council, the Code of Canon Law (348§1) provides that  

the Synod of Bishops has a permanent General Secretariat presided over by a General Secretary who is appointed by the Roman Pontiff; he is assisted by the Council of the Secretariat; this Council consists of bishops, some of whom are elected in accord with the norm of its special law by the Synod of Bishops itself while others are appointed by the Roman Pontiff; the responsibility of all these members ceases when a new General Session begins.

 

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Further information:

• Comunicato del XIV Consiglio Ordinario della Segreteria Generale del Sinodo dei Vescovi, 14.11.2015 (Holy See Press Office)