Pope names archpriest for Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls

Published: 2005-05-31

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has named the first archpriest for Rome's Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and, at the same time, confirmed the responsibility of Benedictine monks to provide pastoral care at the basilica and to promote ecumenical activities. In a legal document published May 31, Pope Benedict said it was time to clarify the relationships among the Benedictine community at the basilica, the Diocese of Rome and the Vatican, which owns the church and its surrounding property. Separately May 31, he named Italian Archbishop Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, a longtime Vatican diplomat who had served in Israel and in Italy, to be archpriest of the basilica. St. Paul's, unlike the three other patriarchal basilicas of Rome -- St. Peter, St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran -- previously did not have an archpriest.

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