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Jean-Louis Tauran, 62
Archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church
Jean-Louis Tauran was born April 5, 1943, in Bordeaux, France. He was ordained a priest Sept. 20, 1969. He holds licentiates in philosophy and theology and a degree in canon law.
He served as parochial vicar in Bordeaux. In March 1975 he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See and was assigned to the apostolic nunciature of the Dominican Republic, and was later transferred to the one in Lebanon. He represented the Holy See at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and participated in various European conferences.
In 1988 he was appointed undersecretary of the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church (now known as the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State). On Jan. 6, 1991, he received episcopal ordination after being named secretary of the council.
In 1991, he was appointed secretary for relations with states. He was elevated to cardinal in October 2003 and in November 2003 he was named archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church.
Curial membership:
* Second Section of Secretariat of State
* Doctrine of the Faith, Oriental Churches, Bishops (congregations)
* Vatican City State (commission)
* Apostolic Signature (tribunal)
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Julio Terrazas Sandoval, 69
Archbishop of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
Julio Terrazas Sandoval was born March 7, 1936, in Vallegrande, Bolivia. He was ordained for the Redemptorists on July 29, 1962, and holds a degree in social ministry from EMACAS University, France.
He was superior of the Redemptorist community in Vallegrande and vicar forane. On 15 April 1978 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of La Paz and ordained that June 8.
In January 1982 he was transferred to the residential see of Oruro.
He was elected president of the Bolivian bishops’ conference in 1985 and 1988, and is currently president.
He was appointed archbishop of Santa Cruz on Feb. 6, 1991. He has held an archdiocesan synod, has actively promoted vocations and is building a new major seminary. He was elevated to cardinal in 2001.
Curial membership:
* Laity (council)
* Latin America (commission)
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Dionigi Tettamanzi, 71
Archbishop of Milan, Italy
Dionigi Tettamanzi was born March 14, 1934, in Renate, Italy. At age 11 he entered the diocesan seminary of Seveso San Pietro, where he began his studies. He then attended the Seminary of Lower Venegono until 1957 when he received a licentiate in theology.
In the same year on June 28, he was ordained for the Archdiocese of Milan. He holds a doctorate in theology from the Gregorian University, Rome.
For over 20 years he taught fundamental theology a the major seminary of Lower Venegono and pastoral theology at the Priestly Institute of Mary Immaculate and the Lombard Regional Institute of Pastoral Ministry, Milan.
He has been very active in the Italian Confederation of Family Counseling Centers of Christian inspiration from 1979 to 1989, in Oari, and in the Association of Italian Catholic Medical Doctors, Milan section for nearly 20 years.
In September 1987 he was called to serve as rector of the Pontifical Lombard Seminary. In July 1989 he was named metropolitan archbishop of Ancona-Osma. He received episcopal ordination that Sept. 23.
In March 1991 he was named secretary-general of the Italian bishops’ conference a month later he resigned from the see of Ancona-Osma.
In April 1995 he was named metropolitan archbishop of Genoa. He also served as president of the regional episcopal conference.
He was elevated to cardinal in February 1998. In July 2002 he was named archbishop of Milan.
Curial membership:
* Clergy, Catholic Education, Eastern Churches (congregations)
* Economic Affairs of the Holy See (office)
* Council of Cardinals for Study of Organizational and Economic Affairs of the Holy See
* Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops
* Special Council for Europe of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops
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Telesphore Placidus Toppo, 65
Archbishop of Ranchi, India
Telesphore Placidus Toppo was born Oct. 15, 1939, in Chainpur, India. He was ordained a priest May 3, 1969.
He studied at the regional major seminary of St. Albert’s College in Ranchi. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from St. Xavier’s College, Ranchi, and a master’s in history from Ranchi University.
After his studies in theology at the Urbaniana College in Rome, he was ordained bishop of Dumka on June 8, 1978.
He was appointed coadjutor archbishop of Ranchi in November 1984 and succeeded to the See of Ranchi on Aug. 7, 1985, being installed that Aug. 25.
He was elevated to cardinal in October 2003. He is currently president of the Indian bishops’ conference.
Curial membership:
* Evangelization of Peoples (congregation)
* Interreligious Dialogue (council)
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Christian Wiyghan Tumi, 74
Archbishop of Douala, Cameroon
Christian Wiyghan Tumi was born Oct. 15, 1930, in Kikaikelaki, Cameroon. He did his secondary studies at diocesan seminaries and at the seminaries of Ibadan, Bodija and Enugu in Nigeria.
He holds a licentiate in theology at the Catholic Faculty of Lyon and a doctorate in philosophy at the Catholic University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
He was ordained a priest April 17, 1966, in Soppo, Cameroon, and from 1966 to 1967 carried out his ministry as a parochial vicar at Fiango. From 1967 to 1969 he was a professor at the Bishop Rogan College minor seminary.
In 1973, after having studied abroad, he was named rector of the major regional seminary of Bambui, Archdiocese of Bamenda.
In December 1979 he was named the first bishop of the Diocese of Yagoua. He received episcopal ordination Jan. 6, 1980, in Rome.
He was elected vice president of the bishops’ conference in April 1982. In November 1982 he was promoted to coadjutor archbishop of Garoua. In March 1984 he was made archbishop.
He was elevated to cardinal in June 1988 and was appointed archbishop of Douala on Aug. 31, 1991.
Curial membership:
* Evangelization of Peoples, Catholic Education (congregations)
* Culture, Cor Unum (councils)
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Jean-Claude Turcotte, 68
Archbishop of Montreal
Jean-Claude Turcotte was born in Montreal on June 26, 1936. He earned a diploma in theology at Montreal’s major seminary, and was ordained a priest May 24, 1959.
He was first named vicar to a parish, and subsequently, diocesan assistant-chaplain for Christian working youth (1961-1964). He continued his studies in France at the Catholic faculties in Lille.
From 1967-1974, he held various posts in the Office for Clergy. He was responsible for seminarians in the Diocese of Montreal, secretary of the Commission des Traitements, and in charge of the studies and ongoing formation of the clergy.
In September 1981 he was appointed vicar general of the diocese, and general coordinator of the pastoral programs.
In April 1982 he was appointed auxiliary to the archbishop of Montreal. He received his episcopal ordination June 29, 1982.
He was also responsible for coordinating the Pope’s September 1984 visit in the Diocese of Montreal.
In March 1990 he was named archbishop of Montreal. He was elevated to cardinal in November 1994.
He was president of the Canadian bishops’ conference from 1997 to 2000.
Curial membership:
* Sainthood Causes (congregation)
* Social Communications (council)
* Council of Cardinals for Study of Organizational and Economic Affairs of the Holy See
* Special Council for America of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops
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Peter Turkson, 56
Archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson was born Oct. 11, 1948, in Wassaw Nsuta, Ghana. He was ordained for the Diocese of Cape Coast on July 20, 1975, and holds a doctorate in sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome.
From 1975-76 and 1980-81 he served as staff member at St. Theresa’s minor seminary, and from 1981-87 as staff member at St. Peter’s major seminary.
In October 1992 he was appointed archbishop of Cape Coast and received episcopal ordination on March 27, 1993. He was elevated to cardinal in October 2003.
Curial membership:
* Christian Unity (council)
* Cultural Heritage (commission)
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Ricardo Vidal, 74
Archbishop of Cebu, Philippines
Ricardo Jamin Vidal was born Feb. 6, 1931, in Mogpoc, Philippines. He did his studies at the minor seminary of the Most Holy Rosary and at the seminary of San Carlo.
He was ordained March 17, 1956, and was appointed spiritual director of the local seminary of Mount Carmel. He then became superior of the same institute until September 1971, when he was named coadjutor bishop of Malolos, Bulacan. He received episcopal ordination Nov. 30, 1971.
In August 1973 he was named archbishop of Lipa in Batangas. In April 1981 he was named coadjutor to the archbishop of Cebu. He was named archbishop there on Aug. 24, 1982.
He served as president of the Bishops’ Commission for Vocations within the Catholic bishops’ conference of the Philippines. He was also vice president of the bishops’ conference and then president from 1985 to 1987.
He was elevated to cardinal in May 1985.
Curial membership:
* Evangelization of Peoples, Catholic Education (congregations)
* Health-Care Workers, Family (councils)
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Varkey Vithayathil, 77
Major archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly for Syro-Malabars, in India
Varkey Vithayathil was born May 29, 1927, in Parur, India. He was ordained for the Redemptorists on June 12, 1954, and holds a doctorate in canon law from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome.
For 25 years he taught canon law at the Redemptorists’ major seminary in Bangalore. He also served as provincial for India and Sri Lanka (1978-84), president of the Conference of Religious, India (1984-85) and apostolic administrator of the Asirvanam Benedictine Monastery in Bangalore (1990-96).
In November 1996 he was appointed apostolic administrator of the vacant see of Ernakulam-Angamaly for Syro-Malabars, receiving episcopal ordination Jan. 6, 1997.
In December 1999 he was appointed major archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly for Syro-Malabars. He was elevated to cardinal in February 2001.
Curial membership:
* Eastern Churches (congregation)
* Legislative texts, Christian Unity (councils)
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Miloslav Vlk, 72
Archbishop of Prague, Czech Republic
Miloslav Vlk was born May 17, 1932, in Lisnice, in the Pisek district of Southern Bohemia.
In June 1952 he passed his final examination at a secondary school in Ceske Budejovice, Southern Bohemia. In those years of communist persecution theological studies were impossible, so from 1952 to 1953 he worked at the Motor Union automobile factory in Ceske Budejovice and from 1953 to 1955 did military service in Karlovy Vary.
Despite the political situation, after being discharged, he was able to study archival science at the Arts Faculty of the Charles University in Prague and received his degree in 1960.
In this same period he published a series of articles in various scientific reviews. In 1964 he left this work in order to study at the School of Theology of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Litomerice (1964- 1968).
On June 23, 1968, during the «Prague Spring,» he was ordained a priest and was immediately appointed secretary to Bishop Josef Hlouch of Ceske Budejovice (1968-1971).
The state authorities, worried about his influence and pastoral activity, forced him in 1971 to leave Ceske Budejovice and sent him to the parishes of Laziste and Zablati, isolated on the mountains of the Bohemian Forest in the Prachatitz district. In 1978 the state authorities revoked his state authorization to exercise his priestly ministry.
He was thus forced to live underground in Prague from October 1978 to Dec. 31, 1988.
From 1978 to 1986 he worked as a window-cleaner in downtown Prague. In this period he secretly carried out his pastoral activity with small groups of lay people.
On Jan. 1, 1989, he was permitted to exercise the priestly ministry for a trial year. He became parish priest at Zihobce and Bukovnik in the Klatovy region of Western Bohemia.
In February 1990 he was appointed bishop of Ceske Budejovice and he received episcopal ordination on March 31, 1990.
In March 1991 the Pope appointed him archbishop of Prague. The official installation took place June 1, 1991. In 1992 he was elected president of the Czech bishops’ conference; a role that he held until 2001.
From April 1993 until May 2001 Archbishop Vlk was president of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences.
He was elevated to cardinal in November 1994.
Curial membership:
* Eastern Churches (congregation)
* Social Communications (council)
* Special Council for Europe of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops
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Emmanuel Wamala, 78
Archbishop of Kampala, Uganda
Emmanuel Wamala was born Dec. 15, 1926, at Kamaggwa, in the Diocese of Masaka.
He entered the Bukasala minor seminary in 1942. After seven years in Bukasala, he attended the national major seminary of Katingodo from 1949 to 1955. He gained pastoral experience in Kabula parish in the Masaka Diocese.
In September 1956, he was sent to Rome for further study at the Urbanian University, where he obtained a licentiate in theology. He was ordained a priest Dec. 21, 1957, in Rome.
After his ordination, he continued his studies at the Gregorian University (1958-1960) earning a licentiate in social sciences. He returned to Uganda in 1960.
For two years, he worked at the parish of Villa Maria which then functioned as the diocesan school supervisor in the Diocese of Masaka.
In 1964 he was sent to teach at Bukalasa minor seminary until 1968, when he was appointed chaplain of Makerere University.
In 1974 he was named vicar general of Masaka. He was appointed as bishop of Kiyinda-Mityana in July 1981 and received episcopal ordination that Nov. 22.
In June 1988 he was promoted to the rank of coadjutor bishop of Kampala, and took over the see on Feb. 8, 1990.
Archbishop Wamala became the first rector of the New Uganda Martyrs University, which officially opened in October 1993. He was elevated to cardinal in November 1994.
Curial membership:
* Evangelization of Peoples (congregation)
* Cor Unum (council)
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Friedrich Wetter, 77
Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany
Friedrich Wetter was born Feb. 20, 1928, in Landau, Germany. He attended philosophy courses at the advanced institute St. George in Frankfurt. He then studied theology at the Gregorian University in Rome.
He was ordained a priest Oct. 10, 1953, and completed his studies in Rome with a doctorate in theology.
In 1962 he was a professor of theology at the advanced institute of philosophy and theology of Eichstatt and in 1967 he was professor of dogmatic theology.
He was appointed bishop of Speyer in May 1968 and received episcopal ordination the following June 29.
In October 1982 he was made archbishop of Munich and Freising. He was elevated to cardinal in May 1985.
Curial membership:
* Evangelization of Peoples, Catholic Education (congregations)
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Thomas Williams, 75
Archbishop of Wellington, N
ew Zealand
Thomas Stafford Williams was born March 20, 1930, in Wellington, New Zealand.
He studied for a bachelor of commerce degree at Victoria University, Wellington, and worked for some years as an accountant. He was deeply involved in the Catholic Youth Movement.
In 1954 he commenced studies for the priesthood at the national seminary, Holy Cross College in Dunedin, and in 1956 was sent to the Urbanian University where he obtained a licentiate in theology.
He was ordained a priest Dec. 20, 1959. He then attended University College, Dublin, Ireland, and received a degree in social sciences.
Returning to Wellington, he served as assistant pastor and director of studies at the Catholic Enquiry Center, which had already brought the light of faith to many non-Catholics. He left that post when he volunteered to serve as a missionary in Western Samoa, where he was parish priest for five years.
Upon returning to Wellington at the end of 1975 he was a parish priest. In October 1979 he was named archbishop of Wellington and received episcopal ordination that Dec. 20.
He was elevated to cardinal in February 1983. He has been military ordinary for New Zealand since 1995.
Curial membership:
* Evangelization of Peoples (congregation)
* Council of Cardinals for the Study of Organizational and Economic Affairs of the Holy See
* Special Council for Oceania of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops
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Gabriel Zubeir Wako, 64
Archbishop of Khartoum, Sudan
Gabriel Zubeir Wako was born Feb. 27, 1941, in Mboro, Sudan. He was ordained a priest July 21, 1963, and holds a licentiate in theology with a specialization in pastoral theology.
He began his priestly ministry as an assistant parish priest and as inspector for Christian religious education in the schools of the Gogrial District. He later served as rector of St. Anthony’s minor seminary, Bussere, and was procurator for the Vicariate of Wau, where he also served as vicar delegate.
In December 1974 he was appointed as bishop of Wau and received episcopal ordination April 6, 1975. In October 1979 he was appointed coadjutor bishop of Khartoum.
He has been archbishop of Khartoum since 1981 and president of the Sudanese bishops’ conference since 1992. He was elevated to cardinal in October 2003.
Curial membership:
* Evangelization of Peoples (congregation)
* Cor Unum (council)
