VATICAN CITY, NOV. 21, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI gave his assent to the canonical election of the rector of Rome’s Pio Romeno pontifical college as a bishop of the major archiepiscopal curia of the Greek-Catholic Romanian Church.
Father Claudiu-Lucian Pop, 39, will take his position following his election by the synod of bishops of that Church, which the Pope has now approved.
Claudiu-Lucian Pop was born in Piscolt, Romania, in 1972 and ordained a priest in 1995. Before coming to Rome he worked in pastoral ministry in the Greek-Catholic Romanian mission in Paris, France.
Also in Rome
The Holy Father also appointed Archbishop Santos Abril y Castelló, vice chamberlain of Holy Roman Church, as archpriest of the papal Basilica of St. Mary Major. He succeeds Cardinal Bernard Law, who turned 80 on Nov. 4.
In the 80s, Archbishop Abril y Castelló worked in the Secretariat of State as director of the department relating to the Spanish-speaking sector. In this role, he gave Spanish lessons to Pope John Paul II, and accompanied him on various trips to Spanish-speaking countries.
Finally, Benedict XVI appointed Monsignor Cesare Burgazzi, official of the Section for General Affairs of the Vatican Secretariat of State, as bureau chief of the same section.
