Pope Leo appoints Archbishop Cordileone to Vatican’s highest court
The archbishop, a canon lawyer who has previously assisted the Supreme Tribunal, was among several newly appointed members to the court, which is entrusted with ensuring justice is properly administered in the Church.
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco to serve as a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest court in the Church, the Holy See Press Office announced July 25.
Members of the tribunal, composed of cardinals, bishops, and priests appointed by the Pope, serve for five-year terms during which they consider and judge canon law cases.
According to the Archdiocese of San Francisco, then-Father Cordileone was sent to Rome in 1985 to study the most recent version of the Code of Canon Law. Four years later, he completed a doctoral degree in canon law from the Gregorian University. In 1995, he returned to Rome to serve as assistant at the Supreme Tribunal, a role he held for seven years before returning to the U.S. He was ordained a bishop in 2002.
In a July 25 statement from the archdiocese, Archbishop Cordileone said he is deeply grateful to Pope Leo for the appointment.
“I receive this responsibility with a profound sense of stewardship, recognizing that every office in the Church is entrusted for the service of Christ, His people, and the mission of the Gospel,” the archbishop said.
The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura “ensures that justice in the Church is correctly administered,” according to the Vatican website.
Archbishop Cordileone commented on the significance of the tribunal’s work in his statement, explaining that “justice in the Church is never merely legal; it is ordered toward the salvation of souls, the protection of the rights of the faithful, and the strengthening of ecclesial communion. I am honored to contribute to that important mission.”
https://x.com/ArchCordileone/status/2081048536360321460
He also commented on the timing of the appointment coinciding with a special year for the archdiocese, which is commemorating the 800th anniversary of the death and entry into Heaven of its patron, St. Francis of Assisi.
“His life reminds us that true greatness in the Church is found not in honors or titles but in loving Christ, serving His people, and embracing the Gospel with simplicity and joy,” Archbishop Cordileone said. “I pray that the example of St. Francis will continue to shape my own ministry.”
The archbishop has served as the San Francisco archdiocese’s spiritual shepherd since 2012. In the July 25 statement, he noted that the new role on the tribunal will not require him to move to Rome or reassign him away from the archdiocese.
“My primary vocation remains that of shepherd of this archdiocese, and I will continue to devote myself to serving our priests, deacons, religious, and parishioners while fulfilling the additional responsibilities entrusted to me by the Holy Father,” Archbishop Cordileone concluded. “I ask the faithful to pray for Pope Leo XIV, for the Church throughout the world, and that I may fulfill this responsibility with wisdom, charity, and fidelity.”
The Vatican Press Office also announced the names of several other newly appointed members of the tribunal, including Bishop Edward Lohse of Kalamazoo, Michigan, several professors of canon law at Pontifical Universities in Rome, Bishop Krzysztof Nitkiewicz of Sandomierz, Poland, and Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru, former Secretary of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts.
