Pope appoints new heads for Vatican’s clergy, charity offices

(October 8, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday appointed an African to head the Vatican department that oversees the Catholic Church’s relief and charity operations worldwide. Archbishop Robert Sarah of Guinea, the 65-year old secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples has been appointed the president of the Pontifical Council ‘Cor Unum’. He succeeds German Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes who reached the retirement age of 75 last year. Born in 1945 in Ourous, Archbishop Sarah was ordained priest for the Archdiocese of Conakry in 1969. Ten years later he was appointed its archbishop. The Holy Father also appointed Italian Archbishop Mauro Piacenza as prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy. The 66-year old archbishop who is secretary of the same congregation succeeds Brazilian Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, who has stepped down on reaching the retirement age of 75 last year. After hearing of his appointment, the prelate told ZENIT news agency that he aims to "work tirelessly for the true good of the clergy and of the Church, without putting anything before the love of Christ." He particularly underlined the need for education, both initial and ongoing, of the clergy, noting that "it is necessary to continually monitor because we should not be forming functionaries of God, but rather another Christ."