Leo appoints Randazzo to Vatican, elevates Pegoraro in Curial reshuffle

New appointments signal continuity in governance while raising renewed questions over the Pontifical Academy for Life.

(Pelican+) — Two curial moves announced by the Vatican today demonstrate a sense of continuity which appears so crucial to Leo’s style.

While Leo was still wrapping up his final greetings to those gathered for the General Audience, the daily press bulletin from the Holy See Press Office announced two new archbishops.

First was the naming of Bishop Anthony Randazzo – until now bishop of Broken Bay in Australia – as the new prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, and thus becoming an archbishop.

Second was the naming of Monsignor Renzo Pegoraro – president of the Pontifical Academy for Life – also as a titular archbishop.

Randazzo takes over an office made available by the September departure of Archbishop Filippo Iannone, who himself was named by Leo XIV to fill the role of Prefect for the Dicastery for Bishops which he vacated upon his papal election.

The Australian bishop is known to Leo by virtue of his active role as a member of the Synod on Synodality. In that regard, though, he was one of the few voices prepared to push back against female deacons and defend the Church’s teaching. At the time, there seemed to be just one group voice predominant in the Synod: namely, that raised by the female diaconate advocates, while those opposed to the idea were far more cautious and timid, and especially so when it came to being questioned by the media.

Randazzo bucked that trend in no uncertain style.

… … …

The rest of this report conducted exclusively for Pelican+, is found at this link. Interested readers looking to follow this correspondent’s Vatican reporting for Pelican Media can do so here with the discount code “HAYNES.”