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Australian Bishop Anthony Randazzo Named Vatican’s Chief Legal Official

The choice places an Anglophone canon lawyer with abuse‑crisis experience at the helm of the Vatican’s law office.

Pope Leo XIV holds the weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
Pope Leo XIV greets faithful as he arrives in St. Peter's Square for the weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Leo XIV greets faithful as he leaves at the end of the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Leo XIV greets faithful as he arrives in St. Peter's Square for the weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Overview

  • Bishop Anthony Randazzo was appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts on Wednesday and received the personal title of archbishop, the Holy See said.
  • Randazzo said he will remain in Australia for about three months before moving to Rome to start the role.
  • The Dicastery for Legislative Texts writes and interprets canon law for the Catholic Church and advises on legal questions that include matters for the Vatican City State.
  • The 59-year-old studied canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University and spent five years at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith during Australia’s abuse reckoning after the Royal Commission.
  • The appointment makes him the most senior Australian in the Roman Curia since the late Cardinal George Pell.