In his first appointment of a head of a Vatican department, Pope Leo names Archbishop Filippo Iannone, O. Carm.―who has been serving as Prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative texts―as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.
By Salvatore Cernuzio (Vatican News)
Archbishop Iannone, is a jurist, and canon lawyer with extensive experience in courts, pontifical universities, and the archdiocese. To assist Iannone in this new mission, three women as members of the Dicastery for Bishops who Francis appointed in July 2022: Sister Raffaella Petrini, Yvonne Reungoat and Maria Lia Zervino.
The choice of a successor as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops was always expected to be among the first appointments by Pope Leo, following the precedent established by Pope Benedict XVI with his early choice of William Levada to follow him as head of the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Prior to his election as Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost headed up the Dicastery for Bishops from January 2023, when he was transferred to Rome by Francis, until the death of the Pope in April 2025. On September 26, Pope Leo XIV appointed Archbishop Filippo Iannone, until now Prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a role that also includes presidency of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
Archbishop Iannone’s appointment is the first nomination of a head of a dicastery made by Pope Leo. The only other appointment to a senior role in a Roman Curia body had been made on May 22 — just days after his election — when he named Sister Tiziana Merletti, a nun of the Institute of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, as secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Apostolic Societies.
Jurist and Canon Lawyer
Archbishop Iannone, a native of Naples who will turn 68 on December 13, is a Carmelite, jurist and canon lawyer with extensive experience in courts, pontifical universities and the archdiocese.
Thus Iannone is yet another appointee with a canon law background, as was Leo’s newly appointed, second personal secretary, Italian Fr. Marco Billeri, in addition to Fr. Edgar Iván Rimaycuna Inga, a Peruvian priest appointed in May 2025, also a canon lawyer.
He has held various positions in Rome, including serving as a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura; a consultor to the then-Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life; a member of the Council for Legal Affairs of the Italian Bishops’ Conference; president of the Committee for Places of Worship; and a member of the Episcopal Conference of the Italian province of Lazio.
In 2012, he was appointed viceregent of the Diocese of Rome by Benedict XVI; later, in 2017, he was transferred by Francis to the position of adjunct secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. He became president of that Council the following year, on April 7, 2018.
The task of choosing the world’s bishops
Archbishop Iannone is now charged with continuing the work that the future Pope had undertaken for two years. The role of Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops is a delicate one: assisting the Pope in choosing the pastors to whom he will entrust the many ecclesial communities throughout the world. After identifying priests to propose for the episcopate, the final decision rests with the Pope.
To assist in this mission, Francis appointed three women as members of the Dicastery for Bishops in July 2022: Sister Raffaella Petrini, current president of the Governorate of Vatican City State; Yvonne Reungoat, former superior general of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians; and Maria Lia Zervino, former president of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations (WUFC).
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