Vatican City, Apr 6, 2013 / 08:27 am
Pope Francis made his first appointment within the Roman Curia this morning, choosing his friend, Franciscan Father José Rodríguez Carballo, to help run the Vatican's congregation for consecrated religious.
The Vatican announced April 6 that Pope Francis appointed Fr. Carballo to serve as secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, simultaneously raising him to the level of archbishop and giving him the titular see of Belcastro.
Until his appointment today, Fr. Carballo was the Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, the 119th successor of St. Francis of Assisi. He was elected to that position on June 5, 2003 and re-elected for another six years on June 4, 2009.
Besides being the head of one of the largest international religious orders, Fr. Carballo also personally knows Pope Francis.