Pope Leo XIV has named Cardinal Francis Leo, Archbishop of Toronto, as a new member of the Vatican Dicastery for Clergy
Newsroom (02/09/2025, Gaudium Press ) Pope Leo XIV has named Cardinal Francis Leo, Archbishop of Toronto, as a new member of the Vatican Dicastery for Clergy, alongside a diverse group of prelates and religious figures, in a significant renewal of the dicastery’s membership. The appointments, announced by the Vatican on August 28, 2025, include eight cardinals and 14 bishops, each appointed to five-year terms, as well as a dozen new consultants.
The dicastery, led by South Korean Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, oversees matters related to the recruitment, training, and ongoing formation of diocesan priests and permanent deacons, offering guidance to bishops worldwide. According to the Vatican’s website, the dicastery “deals with all matters relating to priests and deacons of the diocesan clergy, with regard to their persons and pastoral ministry,” and is responsible for issuing norms such as the Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis and the Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Diaconorum Permanentium.
Among the new members are Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, and two U.S. bishops: Bishop James F. Checchio of Metuchen, New Jersey, and Bishop Edward M. Lohse of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Cardinal Leo expressed gratitude for his appointment, stating, “I give thanks to the Holy Father for the opportunity to serve as a member of the Dicastery for the Clergy. I very much look forward to working with other members to contribute and dialogue together in our shared desire to strengthen and support the shepherds of our faith worldwide.”
In addition to the cardinals and bishops, Pope Leo appointed 12 consultants, including two religious sisters: U.S.-born Trappistine Mother Martha Driscoll, superior of the women’s community at the Tre Fontane Monastery in Rome, and Romanian Sister Iuliana Sarosi, a member of the Congregation of the Mother of God and a professor of psychology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
The appointments reflect Pope Leo XIV’s commitment to fostering global collaboration in supporting the formation and ministry of clergy, ensuring the dicastery’s role in guiding bishops remains robust and responsive to contemporary challenges.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Catholic Register
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