Pope Leo Appoints Archbishop Filippi Iannone as Prefect of Dicastery for Bishops

Vatican, 26 Sept 2025: Pope Leo XIV has made his first significant appointment, naming Archbishop Filippo Iannone, O. Carm., as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Until now, Archbishop Iannone has served as Prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts. He will formally assume his new role on 15 October 2025.

The rest of the Dicastery for Bishops’ leadership will remain unchanged for another five years. Archbishop Ilson de Jesus Montanari will continue as Secretary, and Ivan Kovač will remain Under-Secretary.

Archbishop Iannone, a Carmelite and canon lawyer, was ordained priest in 1982. In 2001, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Naples, assisting Cardinal Michele Giordano, then Archbishop of Naples. At that time, he was the youngest bishop in Italy. Later, Cardinal Agostino Vallini—then Vicar General of Rome, who had previously worked with Iannone in Naples—brought him to Rome to serve as Vice-Regent of the Diocese.

In 2017, Iannone became Adjunct Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, and the following year he was appointed Prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts.

Courtesy: Reuters