Pope Francis appoints the new prefect of the congregation for the causes of saints

Pope Francis on Thursday appointed a new prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints following the dramatic resignation from Cardinal Angelo Becciu last month.

The pope has appointed Monsignor Marcello Semeraro, who has acted as secretary of the Council of Cardinal Councilors since its establishment in 2013, to the office of October 15.

The 72-year-old Italian has been bishop of Albano, a suburbicarian diocese located about 10 miles from Rome, since 2004.

Semeraro succeeds Becciu, who resigned on September 24 amid allegations of being involved in embezzlement in his previous role as a second-degree official at the Vatican Secretariat of State. Becciu was appointed prefect in August 2018, serving for two years. He denied the allegations of financial misconduct.

Semeraro was born in Monteroni di Lecce, southern Italy, on December 22, 1947. He was ordained a priest in 1971 and appointed bishop of Oria, Puglia, in 1998.

He was special secretary of the 2001 Synod of Bishops, which addressed the role of diocesan bishops.

He is a member of the Doctrinal Commission of the Italian Bishops, a consultant to the Vatican Congregation for the Eastern Churches and a member of the Dicastery for Communication. He previously served as a member of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

As secretary of the cardinals' council, Semeraro helped coordinate efforts to create a new Vatican constitution, replacing the 1998 text "Bonus pastore".

On Thursday the pope added a new member to the cardinal's council: Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since 2018, the 60-year-old Capuchin has led the archdiocese, which includes over six million Catholics.

The pope also appointed bishop Marco Mellino, titular bishop of Confirmation, secretary of the council. Mellino had previously held the position of assistant secretary.

Pope Francis also confirmed that Honduran cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga will remain the council's coordinator and confirmed that five other cardinals will remain members of the body, which advises the pope on the governance of the universal Church.

The five cardinals are Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state; Seán O'Malley, archbishop of Boston; Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay; Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising; and Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Governorate of the Vatican City State.

The six board members attended an online meeting on October 13, where they discussed how to continue their work amid the pandemic.

The advisory group of cardinals, along with Pope Francis, typically meets in the Vatican every three months for about three days.

The body originally had nine members and was nicknamed "C9". But after the departure of Australian Cardinal George Pell, Chilean Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa and Congolese Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo in 2018, it became known as "C6".

A Vatican statement on Tuesday said the council worked this summer on the new apostolic constitution and presented an updated draft to Pope Francis. Copies were also sent for reading to the competent departments.

The meeting on 13 October was dedicated to summarizing the work of the summer and studying how to support the implementation of the constitution when it is promulgated.

Pope Francis, according to the statement, said that "the reform is already underway, even in some administrative and economic aspects".

The board will meet next time, virtually again, in December