Overview

• Iannone will take up the prefect’s post on October 15, according to the Holy See Press Office.
• The appointment is Pope Leo’s first selection of a Vatican department head nearly five months into his pontificate.
• The Dicastery for Bishops evaluates candidates for episcopal leadership across the 1.4‑billion‑member Church before recommendations go to the pope.
• Pope Leo previously headed the dicastery before his May election and has renewed Secretary Ilson de Jesus Montanari and Undersecretary Ivan Kovač for five-year terms.
• Iannone, 67, is a Carmelite from Naples who has led the Vatican’s legislative texts office and built a career in Church law.