On Saturday, the Vatican made public that the Holy Father appointed prominent Americans, Bishop Allen Henry Vigneron of Oakland, and Fr. David M. O'Connell, C.M., president of the Catholic University of America as consulters to the Congregation for Catholic Education.

The appointments are part of some 20 other figures who the Holy Father has appointed worldwide to the Congregation.

The Congregation for Catholic Education is currently headed by Polish Cardinal Zenon Grocholewsky and its secretary is Canadian Archbishop Arthur Miller.