The Pope granted the resignation submitted by card. William Joseph Levada, having reached retirement age, from his position as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei”, the Pontifical Biblical Commission and the International Theological Commission, and called to replace him, in the same positions, mgr. Gerhard Ludwig Müller, until now bishop of Regensburg, while raising him to the position of archbishop. The new prefect of the Congregation, that for many years had been run by the current Pontiff, was born in a small town near Mainz in 1947. He studied philosophy, theology and has a postgraduate degree on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was ordained priest in 1978 and bishop in 2002. As well as being a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he is also a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture and has held many responsible positions within the German Bishops Conference. Mgr. Müller is considered a personal friend of the Pope, whose opera omnia he is editing. He has written over 400 books, essays and textbooks in dogmatic theology, ecumenism, hermeneutics. Originally from the USA, card. Levada had been Prefect since 2005.

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