VATICAN CITY (VATICAN CITY)
Religion News Service - Missouri School of Journalism [Columbia MO]
September 26, 2025
By Claire Giangravé
In his first major curial appointments since becoming pope, Leo XIV tapped Italian Archbishop Filippo Iannone to lead the influential Vatican department for appointing bishops and to preside over the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, the Vatican announced Friday (Sept. 26).
Pope Leo held both positions before being elected the new pontiff in May — effectively handing Iannone the keys to the curial offices that made Leo a force to be reckoned with at the last conclave. Iannone will take over his new roles Oct. 15.
Iannone, 67, has served since 2018 as head of the Vatican department for legislative texts, which studies and interprets the canon law of the Catholic Church. Leo likely had a firsthand appreciation for his leadership, as he was also a member of the department. Both are experienced canon lawyers. Iannone received his doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.
In 1976, he joined the Carmelite order, a monastic community based on prayer, community and service. His appointment confirms the growing influence and membership of religious orders in the Roman Curia, which especially was the case under Pope Francis, a Jesuit, and now under Leo, an Augustinian.
Iannone became a lawyer in the Roman Rota, the highest appellate court in the Catholic Church, and later was ordained a priest in 1982. He held several influential judicial positions in his hometown of Naples, Italy, between 1987 and 1994. He also taught canon law at the University of Naples Federico II.
Pope John Paul II ordained him as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Naples in 2001, making him the youngest bishop in Italy at the time. Benedict XIV appointed him to lead the Diocese of Sora-Cassino-Aquino-Pontecorvo, in the Lazio region of Italy, and eventually tapped him for major Vatican roles, serving as a consultant to the Vatican and Italian bishops on canonical questions.
Iannone was instrumental in the 2021 revision of the Code of Canon Law regarding penal sanctions in the church, including for sexual abuse and bishop accountability. In his new role as prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops, he will sanction and investigate bishops accused of abuse, or lack of accountability or transparency.
He also played an important role in building the legal framework of Vos estis lux mundi (“You are the light of the world”), Francis’ 2019 decree establishing regulations for safeguarding measures to combat sexual abuse in the church.
To assist Iannone in advising the pope’s appointments of bishops around the world, Leo confirmed his former collaborators at the dicastery, Brazilian Archbishop Ilson de Jesus Montanari and Monsignor Ivan Kovač, for another five years. Three women were also appointed to advise the department for bishops in 2022.
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As president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America — a region that has become increasingly represented at the Vatican and where the number of faithful is growing — Iannone will manage the relationship between the Vatican and bishops’ conferences in Latin America.
Iannone is also a member of two of the twelve study groups of the Synod on Synodality, which were created following the 2023 summit of bishops at the Vatican. One is charged with discerning the judicial role of bishops, and the other with addressing controversial doctrinal and pastoral questions, including sexuality and gender.
In his curial career, he has also addressed other sensitive issues for the church and the Vatican, including negotiating a tense relationship with German bishops as they conducted a series of conferences in 2023, discussing issues ranging from LGBTQ+ welcoming to women in the priesthood, called the Synodal Way. In his role as vice regent of the Diocese of Rome, in 2012, he oversaw the complex financial situation of the Immaculate Dermatological Institute in Rome — an economic scandal that forced Francis to ask wealthy U.S. patrons to bail out the institution. And, Francis appointed Iannone to secretary of the Vatican “Commission for Reserved Matters,” which examines financial questions in the church that are to remain secretive.