Pope Benedict XVI named a new archbishop for the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest see.The Vatican announced the appointment of Auxiliary Bishop Odilo Pedro Scherer of Sao Paulo in a March 21 statement.
The 57-year-old archbishop fills the see left vacant since October 2006 when Pope Benedict appointed the city's former archbishop, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, as head the Vatican's Congregation for Clergy.
Born of German descendants in Sao Francisco, Brazil, Archbishop Scherer has strong ties to Rome.
He studied philosophy and theology at Rome's Pontifical Brazilian College and the Pontifical Gregorian University, and worked as an official for the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops from 1994 to 2001.
Ordained a priest in 1976, he served as pastor in the Brazilian Diocese of Toledo.
He taught and served as rector of a number of seminaries and religious institutes in southern Brazil.
Archbishop Scherer was named auxiliary bishop of Sao Paulo in November 2001, and in May 2003 he was elected secretary-general of the Brazilian bishops' conference.
In December 2006, Pope Benedict named him adjunct secretary-general of the fifth general conference of the Latin American bishops.
The conference will be held May 13-31 outside Sao Paulo in Aparecida.
The pope, who will officially open the conference, is expected to visit Sao Paulo when he travels to Brazil May 9-13.Sao Paulo is one of the most populous cities in the world with more than 11 million inhabitants.
While more than 80 percent of the city's ethnically diverse population is Catholic, Archbishop Scherer recently expressed concern about what he called a "silent flight of the faithful."
He said "the faithful are more fickle" in Brazil, according to a Feb. 7 report by Catholic News Agency.
He said even though most Brazilians were religious, a lack of religious formation and instruction about the church was causing a serious flight of Catholics from the pews, the agency reported.
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