“The Holy Father expressed his gratitude to His Eminence, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller at the conclusion of his five-year mandate as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and President of the “Ecclesia Dei” Pontifical Commission, the Pontifical Biblical Commission and the International Theological Commission,” stated a statement issued by the Holy See Press Office on July 1, 2017.
“Pope Francis,” it specified, “has called to succeed him, His Excellency, Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., Titular Archbishop of Tibica, up to now, Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.”
Cardinal Müller leaves his post at 70, the mandate passing to the dicastery’s ‘number two,’ Luis Ladaria Ferrer. Born in Mallorca, on April 19, 1944, the new prefect is a Spanish Jesuit archbishop and professor at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University.
In 1992, Pope John Paul II appointed him member of the International Theological Commission and in 1995, consultor of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In March of 2004, he was appointed secretary general of the International Theological Commission.
On July 9, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, assigning him the Titular See of Tibica with the dignity of Archbishop. He is a member of the Holy See group in charge of dialogue with the Saint Pius X Priestly Fraternity, which began in 2009.
