Vatican City, Jun 30, 2010 / 09:19 am
Among a flurry of announcements from the Holy See on Wednesday, the Holy Father officially nominated the current head of the Pontifical Academy for Life to lead the recently announced Pontifical Council for New Evangelization. Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella will lead the Church in the formidable challenge of re-evangelizing the "secularized" countries of the world.
With his nomination to the presidency of the new council, Archbishop Fisichella has been relieved of the reigns of the Pontifical Academy for Life (Pro Vita), where he had been the since June 2008, as well as his position as rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, which he had held since Jan. 2002.
Born in Codogno in northern Italy on August 25, 1951, Salvatore "Rino" Fisichella was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Rome on March 13,1976 and became an auxiliary of the same diocese and Titular Bishop of Vicohabentia in 1988. He was made archbishop in 2008 after taking charge of the Academy for Life.
The prelate is also a member of the Vatican congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith and for the Causes of Saints.