Pope nominates new head to Vatican’s doctrinal office

(July 02, 2012) Pope Benedict XVI made a major appointment in the Vatican on Monday, nominating a German bishop as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In a communiqué the Vatican said US Cardinal Joseph Levada who reached the retirement age of 75 last year, tendered his resignation which the Pope accepted. In his place, the Pontiff appointed Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller of Regensburg, elevating him to the rank of archbishop. Cardinal Levada who has served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 2005, has also been the president of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei”, the Pontifical Biblical Commission as well as the International Theological Commission. He was made cardinal in 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI, who himself headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for nearly a quarter century before his election as Pope in 2005.