Today Pope Benedict named two members to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America: Archbishop of San Antonio, Jose Horacio Gomez; and Argentinean Cardinal Leonardo Sandri.

Archbishop Gomez, 56, was born in Monterrey, Mexico and is one of the highest-ranking Hispanic bishops in the United States.  According to the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Archbishop Gomez is a member of the USCCB committee on Hispanic Affairs, a board member of Catholic Legal Immigration, Inc., a member of the USCCB Hispanic Liturgy Subcommittee, and he is on the board of directors at Assumption Seminary in San Antonio.

He was also listed as one of Time Magazine’s Top 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America in 2005.

Born in Argentina, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, 64, is the prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.  He was ordained a priest in 1967 and holds a doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.