Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti to head the Dicastery for Eastern Churches.
Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, is serving as apostolic nuncio to Great Britain until now.
He succeeds Cardinal Leonardo Sandri who concludes his service as prefect after serving for fifteen years.
Cardinal Sandri, who turned 79 recently, will finish his service as prefect in mid-January when the 67-year-old Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti will take over the job.
Cardinal Leonardo Sandri was appointed Prefect by Pope Benedict XVI in June 2007 and was reconfirmed by Pope Francis in 2014.
Born in Verona in 1955, Archbishop Gugerotti joined the Pius Society of Don Nicola Mazza and was ordained a priest in 1982. He holds a degree in Oriental Languages and Literature from the Ca' Foscari University in Venice and a licence in liturgy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Sant'Anselmo and a doctorate in Oriental Ecclesiastical Sciences at the Pontifical Oriental Institute.
He teaches at universities in Venice, Padua and Rome, as well as at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical Oriental Institute.
Wide-ranging service at the Holy See
Archbishop Gugerotti worked at the Congregation for Oriental Churches starting in 1985. In 1997 Saint Pope John Paul II appointed him undersecretary of the Congregation. He served as a consultant to the Office for Papal Liturgical Celebrations from 1990 to 2001, was later appointed Titular Archbishop of Ravello in December, and was ordained by John Paul II in 2002.
After that, he served in the papal representations or nunciatures around the world. He served as apostolic nuncio to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. In 2011 Benedict XVI made him nuncio to Belarus. Pope Francis sent him to Ukraine in 2015 as nuncio and later moved him to Great Britain in 2020.
Publications
Archbishop Gugerotti is author of several books in Italian that bring together his experience and studies both involving the eastern churches and liturgy, including: "La liturgia armena delle ordinazioni e l’epoca ciliciana. Esiti rituali di una teologia di comunione tra le Chiese" (Rome 2001); "L’uomo nuovo un essere liturgico" (Roma 2005), also translated into Romanian and Ukrainian; "Caucaso e dintorni" (Rome 2012); and "Riflessi d’oriente" (Bose 2012). He has also authored several articles. - With inputs from Vatican News
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