In his first major appointment to the Roman Curia, Pope Leo XIV surprised most people in the Vatican by appointing the Italian archbishop Filippo Iannone, 67, a member of the Carmelite Order, as the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

Pope Leo’s first significant appointment was being closely watched in the Vatican by people who wanted to understand the direction of the new pope. Before the announcement today, Archbishop Iannone’s name was not mentioned among the possible candidates for this post. One Vatican source consulted by America, who asked for anonymity, described the decision as “an enigma” and said that “it is difficult to decipher.” 

Another Vatican official, who also did not wish to be identified, noted three significant positive aspects of the decision. First, Archbishop Iannone has been a bishop for 24 years and has had experience in three very different Italian dioceses. Second, he has been a member of the Roman Curia for almost eight years and understands life there. Third, he is a member of a religious order, as was Leo when appointed to the same position.

A third Vatican official who knows him but did not expect his appointment, and who also requested not to be named, said, “He is totally like Leo, he is someone who listens, thinks, reflects and then acts.”

A fourth Vatican official, who also asked for anonymity but who knows Archbishop Iannone well, said, “He is very like Prevost, silent, humble and reflective, and a very good canon lawyer.”

Archbishop Iannone now becomes prefect of an important Vatican dicastery, where the main task is vetting and proposing candidates to the pope for appointment as bishops to Latin-rite dioceses in Europe and the Americas. The prefect of the dicastery can also organize an apostolic visitation of a diocese where a bishop appears to be struggling and is involved in the process of investigating bishops suspected of mishandling or covering up cases of sexual abuse.

Archbishop Iannone has led the Dicastery for Legislative Texts since 2018 and will begin his new role on Oct. 15, according to the Vatican press office.

As head of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, Archbishop Iannone was deeply involved with the revision of the Code of Canon Law’s “Book VI: Penal Sanctions in the Church,” one of seven books that make up the code for the Latin rite of the Catholic Church. With updated descriptions of the crimes of sexual abuse, including child pornography, and the required actions of a bishop or superior of a religious order in handling allegations, it was promulgated by Pope Francis in 2021.

Following up on that, the archbishop led the preparation of the 2023 update of “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” (“You are the light of the world”), which set out the procedures for bishops, religious superiors and the heads of international Catholic movements to investigate allegations of sexual abuse or the cover-up of abuse.

In February, the Dicastery for Legislative Texts—defending the right to self-defense and to a presumption of innocence—published on its website a letter by the archbishop and the dicastery’s secretary strongly cautioning dioceses and religious orders against publishing the names of church personnel who have been accused of abuse but have not been found guilty in civil or canonical procedures.

Archbishop Iannone was born in Naples on Dec. 13, 1957, and entered the Carmelite Order at the age of 18. He took his first vows in 1977, final vows in 1980 and was ordained a priest in 1982. After gaining a degree in theology in a seminary in southern Italy, he went on to obtain a doctorate in civil and canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. Subsequently, he taught canon law in the seminary where he studied and other institutions, and served in different roles in the Carmelite Order. 

He became the vicar general of the Diocese of Naples in 1996. In 2001, St. John Paul II appointed him as auxiliary bishop in Naples. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI named him bishop of Sora-Cassino-Aquino-Pontecorvo; in 2012, Benedict made him vice regent of the Rome diocese and promoted him to be archbishop. In 2015, Pope Francis named him a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Segnatura and a consultant of the Congregation (now Dicastery) for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. 

Pope Francis named him as adjunct secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Text in November 2017 and named him president of that office in April 2018. Archbishop Iannone was seen in the Vatican as supportive of Francis’ reform of the Roman Curia and, like Leo, is committed to Francis’ synodal path. He is now in line to receive the red hat at Pope Leo’s first consistory, which is not expected before 2026.

Leo has confirmed the Brazilian archbishop Ilson de Jesus Montanari, 66, the current secretary of the dicastery, for another five years. Archbishop Montanari has been secretary of the office since October 2013 and worked closely with Leo when he was prefect of the dicastery from 2023 to 2025. Leo has also confirmed the Bosnian-Herzegovinian monsignor Ivan Kovač, 47, as undersecretary for five years. He has been undersecretary of the office since June 2023. By confirming these two officials in their present positions for the next five years, the pope has given the new prefect two experienced and trusted people to assist him.

Material from Catholic News Service was used in this report.

Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.