Vatican City, Feb 7, 2014 / 02:57 am
Pope Francis appointed members of the Pontifical Council for the Laity Feb. 6, including one American – Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia.
Archbishop Chaput is also the only bishop appointed to the council who is not a cardinal, although one other appointee, Archbishop Orani Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro, is a cardinal-designate who will be given the red hat at the Feb. 22 consistory.
The Pontifical Council for the Laity deals with the promotion and coordination of the apostolate of the laity, including the contributions of lay ecclesial movements and individuals.
Archbishop Chaput's archdiocese will host the next World Meeting of Families, which Pope Francis may attend. The meeting, to be held in 2015, will gather hundreds of thousands of laity to pray, study and celebrate marriage and family life.
A native of Kansas, Archbishop Chaput was ordained a priest in the Capuchin Franciscans, and served as bishop of Rapid City and of Denver before being appointed to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 2011.
Pope Francis' appointments to the Pontifical Council for the Laity also included the confirmation of Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko as president and Bishop Joseph Clemens as secretary – posts they have held since 2003, when they were appointed by Bl. John Paul II.
The other prelates appointed members Feb. 6 were cardinals Christoph Schonborn of Vienna; Angelo Scola of Milan; John Njue of Nairobi; Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising; Willem Eijk of Utrecht; Luis Tagle of Manila; and Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life.
The lay members of the council are Yago De La Cierva of Spain; Irene Laumenskaite of Lithuania; Fabrice Hadjadj of Switzerland; Jocelyn Khoueiry of Lebanon; Franco Miano of Italy; and Genevieve Sanze of Central African Republic.
Consultors to the Pontifical Council for the Laity were also appointed, including: Archbishop Alberto Taveira Correa of Belem do Para, in Brazil; Archbishop Filippo Santoro of Taranto, in Italy; Bishop Anders Arborelius of Stockholm; Bishop Dominique Rey of Frejus-Toulon, in France; Bishop Christoph Hegge, auxiliary of Munster, in Germany; Fr. Arturo Cattaneo of Italy; Fr. Fra Hans Stapel of Brazil; Alejandra Keen von Wuthenau of Peru; Laurent Landete of France; Mimmo Muolo of Italy; Marguerite Peeters of Belgium; Silvia Recchi of Cameroon; and Maite Uribe Bilbao of El Salvador.