The new members are Archbishops Fernando Filoni, "sostituto" for general affairs of the Vatican Secretariat of State, and Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, secretary of the Congregation for Clergy.
Among its duties, the Congregation for Bishops helps oversee the selection of new prelates pending papal approval.
Archbishop Filoni was born in 1946 in Manduria, Italy. He was ordained a priest in 1970 and has served as apostolic nuncio to Iraq, Jordan and the Philippines. He was appointed to his current position at the Secretariat of State on June 9.
Archbishop Piacenza was born in 1944 in Genoa, Italy. He was ordained a priest in 1969. In 2003, he was appointed the president of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church. And in 2004, named president of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology.
ZE07100408 - 2007-10-04