Pope Francis on Monday named U.K. nuncio Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti as the new prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.
The 67-year-old Italian arch-bishop succeeds the Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, who has led the dicastery since 2007 and turned 79 on Nov. 18. The customary retirement age for bishops is 75, although a few other current Vatican prefects have also served beyond this age.
Archbishop Gugerotti, who will take up the new post in mid-January, has served as the aposto-lic nuncio to Great Britain since 2020.
Before the appointment, he was the papal representative to Ukraine for five years. That ex-perience should be helpful in his new role of overseeing relations between the Vatican and the 23 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the pope. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is the largest of the 23 Churches.
The second-largest is the Syro-Malabar Church, based in India, which could provide the archbi-shop with his biggest test, due to a fierce internal dispute over litu-rgical changes that has drawn in the Vatican. Archbishop Gugerotti has written books about Eastern liturgies and may take a close interest in the debate.

Defiant German bishops claim that Pope Francis is backing them in their rebellion against Church teaching on homosexuality, women’s ordination and the abolition of priestly celibacy.
A pastoral worker blesses a homosexual couple in Germany
“The Holy Father made it clear to us that tension is necessary,” Bp. Georg Bätzing, president of the German Bishops’ Conference, told reporters in Rome on Saturday at the conclusion of the prelates’ ad limina visit to the Vatican.
“The audience with Pope Francis encouraged us,” Bätzing maintained, explaining that the pontiff “also spoke of the tension he experiences and the fact that courage and patience are needed to find a solution.”
“Our discussions in Rome were tough but civil, and we sensed that dialogue can – and indeed did – succeed in this way,” the recalcitrant prelate insisted. “I am also grateful that the worries and opinions of our bishops’ conference on the full range of topics were heard.”
Bätzing told the press conference he remained firm on offering blessings to homosexual couples and would “not take away the possibility for same-sex couples who believe and ask for God’s blessing to be blessed.”
The 62 German bishops also met with various dicasteries of the Roman curia to defuse the escalating saber-rattling over the German Synodal Way, which has declared its approval of homosexual relationships, female deacons and married priests.
A joint statement released by the German bishops and the Vatican said that Cdl. Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, and Cdl. Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, “had expressed reservations regarding the methodology, content and proposals of the Synodal Path.”