Cañizares to return home

Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, pictured right, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship (CDW), is to leave the Roman Curia and return to his native Diocese of Valencia as archbishop, writes James Roberts.

Speaking to Vatican Insider, Cardinal Cañizares said that he had told Pope Francis he wanted to “live with the smell of the sheep”, and go back to a diocese.

“I am really very happy. I return to my home diocese, which has not had a Valencian bishop for over 100 years,” he told Andrea Tornielli.

In a major Spanish reshuffle, the Pope has accepted the resignation of the Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, who is 78, and moves Archbishop Carlos Osoro from Valencia to Madrid.

Cardinal Cañizares, who turns 69 next month, was made a cardinal in 2006, during Pope Benedict XVI’s first consistory. His appointment to the CDW in 2008 signalled a renewed focus on the liturgy by Pope Benedict. The new CDW prefect has not yet been named.