Filippo Iannone appointed Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops

The Holy See made public this midday the first "great" appointment of Pope Leo XIV within the Vatican structure: the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.

Filippo Iannone, O. Carm., until now Prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, has been chosen by the Pontiff to succeed him in his task of electing and dealing with matters concerning pastors of local churches throughout the world and has also been appointed President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

This is the first important appointment within the Vatican structure of Pope Leo XIV, although the Prefecture of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts will now become vacant. The new Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops will take office on October 15.

Both the secretary of the Dicastery for Bishops, Bishop Ilson de Jesus Montanari and the undersecretary of the same Dicastery, Bishop Ivan Kovač have been confirmed for another five years.

Msgr. Filippo Iannone

Filippo Iannone was born on December 13, 1957 in Naples, Italy. In 1976 he entered the Carmelite Order and was ordained a priest on June 26, 1982, at the age of 24. The new Prefect for Bishops studied at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology of Southern Italy and worked as a lawyer at the Tribunal of the Rota.

In his order, Iannone served as commissioner, national treasurer, commissary councilor and president of the Commission for the revision of the Constitutions. In addition, in the Diocese of Naples, he held various positions of responsibility such as defender of the Regional Court of Campania (1987-1990), assistant judicial vicar of the Diocesan Court of Naples (1990-1994), episcopal vicar of the IV Pastoral Zone (1994-1996) and provicar general (1996-2001).

On April 12, 2001, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Naples by St. John Paul II. Eight years later, he was appointed Titular Bishop of Sora-Aquino-Pontecorvo.

In January 2012, he was appointed Vice-Regent of Rome and then moved to the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts in November 2017, as assistant secretary. A few months later, he was appointed President of this same Council.

He has also been part of, ad quinquenniumThe following are the members of various dicasteries and agencies of the Holy See, such as the Dicastery for the Clergy, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura and the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

On June 5, 2022, with the entry into force of the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium, he became Prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts and is also part of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches.