Cardinal Stafford named to head Vatican office dealing with penance

Published: 2003-10-06

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- U.S. Cardinal J. Francis Stafford has been named by Pope John Paul II to head the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican office that deals with matters of conscience involving the sacrament of penance and procedural issues concerning indulgences. Cardinal Stafford, 71, will leave the Pontifical Council for the Laity, where he has served as president since 1996. The new head of the laity council is Polish Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, 58, who had been council secretary. The Vatican announced the appointments Oct. 3. They were among the first of a series of expected changes in the Roman Curia. The Apostolic Penitentiary is one of three tribunals of the Holy See. The penitentiary is divided into two offices: One governs indulgences, and the other is a court that handles cases of conscience and absolves individuals from sins reserved to the Holy See.

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