Pope Francis has appointed Father Antonio Spadaro, SJ, as Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
Father Spadaro was formerly editor-in-chief of the influential publication La Civiltà Cattolica, which published the transcripts of the Pope’s conversations with Jesuits during his apostolic journeys.
Before the Vatican appointment was announced, Father Spadaro tweeted that he was leaving the editor’s position after 12 years at the request of his Jesuit superiors.
Father Spadaro, 56, entered the Society of Jesus in 1996 and was ordained to the priesthood in 2007.
Writing recently about Christ’s encounter with the Canaanite woman, Father Spadaro characterized Jesus as rigid and in need of conversion (full text)—in marked contrast to the patristic interpretation of the passage.