Pope Benedict XVI named today João Bráz de Aviz, 63, Archbishop of Brasilia, as the new Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (AKA Congregation of Relgious), replacing Franc Cardinal Rode, CM.
Archbishop Bráz de Aviz’s family is Portugese and German. He is not a religious (and to hold the job it is not a prerequisite to be a vowed religious) but he was educated at a PIME seminary and he’s friendly with Focolare, even overseeing the beatification process for Focolare member Ginetta Calliari. At the service of the Pope at the Holy See, Bráz de Aviz is the second Latin American among the current leaders of one of the central offices.
Archbishop João Bráz de Aviz has been a bishop for nearly 17 years and has served as such in 4 dioceses, three of them as the Diocesan Ordinary.
Many consider Archbishop João Bráz de Aviz to be personable, reliable, discrete, relatively traditional and is not known to have a penchant for religious life (considered so because he’s not one). In short, he’s an outsider to much of the Vatican politics. What he’s connected to are the lay ecclesial movements which is also something Pope Benedict –and John Paul before him– is also very interested in.