College of Cardinals appoints a Brazilian as its new secretary.

From Agência Brasil*

Pope Francis today (28) appointed Brazilian Ilson de Jesus Montanari as secretary of the College of Cardinals, the Vatican press office announced today. In October of last year, Archbishop Ilson Montanari, who had worked at the Congregation for Bishops since 2008, was appointed secretary of this body, replacing Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri. In 2011 he was appointed Chaplain of His Holiness and, on October 12, secretary of the congregation, presided over by Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet.

The College of Cardinals is currently made up of 199 cardinals: 107 electors and 92, over 80 years of age, who do not have the right to vote. They collaborate with the Pope on the most important issues of the Catholic Church and have the duty to meet when there is an election to choose a new pontiff.

The new secretary of the College of Cardinals was born on July 18, 1959, in Sertãozinho, Santa Catarina, and holds a degree in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. The Brazilian studied law and economics in Ribeirão Preto, in the interior of São Paulo state, and has a master's degree in philosophy.

Montanari entered the Gregorian University in Rome to study theology in 1985, after having attended the Maria Imaculada Seminary in Ribeirão Preto. In 1989, he returned to the Archdiocese of Ribeirão Preto as a priest. From 1990 onwards, he was a professor of theology in Ribeirão Preto and Uberaba, Minas Gerais. In the city of Uberaba, he served as chancellor and coordinator of pastoral care for the archdiocese, a member of the Presbyteral Council and the College of Consultors, as well as vicar forane for the western region.

In 2002, Dom Ilson returned to Italy to study dogmatic theology in Rome.

*With information from the Lusa news agency and Vatican Radio