Fr. Augustine DiNoia
Print Edition: 06/25/2009
Vatican aide assigned titular Oregon City see
Fr. Augustine DiNoia
WASHINGTON — Colleagues of Archbishop-designate Augustine DiNoia said they are pleased with his new appointment at the Vatican, calling him an “incredible theologian.”
Pope Benedict named the U.S.-born Dominican an archbishop and the next secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. He has worked at the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 2002.
Archbishop-designate DiNoia left his position at the U.S. bishops’ conference to join a Catholic think tank at the Pope John Paul Cultural Center in Washington.
Like auxiliary bishops, Vatican nuncios and the other archbishops serving as secretaries of Vatican congregations, he has been assigned a “titular see” rather than a diocese.
Titular sees, or sees in title only, came about when Islam spread in the Middle East and Christians left certain areas that once were thriving dioceses. Reorganizations in any part of the world that resulted in renaming or merging of dioceses also created titular sees. The custom not only is a way to hold out hope that certain sees will rise again to prominence, but to keep alive the memory of disappeared or re-cast Christian communities.
Father DiNoia, a New York City native, will be the first titular archbishop of Oregon City, the oldest metropolitan see in the United States after Baltimore. Oregon City became an archdiocese in 1846, but the archdiocese was transferred to Portland in 1928. Oregon City became a titular archdiocese in 1996, but no archbishop had been assigned the title until now.
Archbishop-designate DiNoia, 65, has served as undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under Cardinal William Levada, formerly of Portland.
Born in 1943, he was ordained a priest in 1970 after studies at Cardinal Hayes High School in New York, Providence College, and the Dominican House of Studies. He has a master’s degree in philosophy and several theology degrees, including a doctorate from Yale University in 1980.
Fr. Augustine DiNoia
WASHINGTON — Colleagues of Archbishop-designate Augustine DiNoia said they are pleased with his new appointment at the Vatican, calling him an “incredible theologian.”
Pope Benedict named the U.S.-born Dominican an archbishop and the next secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. He has worked at the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 2002.
Archbishop-designate DiNoia left his position at the U.S. bishops’ conference to join a Catholic think tank at the Pope John Paul Cultural Center in Washington.
Like auxiliary bishops, Vatican nuncios and the other archbishops serving as secretaries of Vatican congregations, he has been assigned a “titular see” rather than a diocese.
Titular sees, or sees in title only, came about when Islam spread in the Middle East and Christians left certain areas that once were thriving dioceses. Reorganizations in any part of the world that resulted in renaming or merging of dioceses also created titular sees. The custom not only is a way to hold out hope that certain sees will rise again to prominence, but to keep alive the memory of disappeared or re-cast Christian communities.
Father DiNoia, a New York City native, will be the first titular archbishop of Oregon City, the oldest metropolitan see in the United States after Baltimore. Oregon City became an archdiocese in 1846, but the archdiocese was transferred to Portland in 1928. Oregon City became a titular archdiocese in 1996, but no archbishop had been assigned the title until now.
Archbishop-designate DiNoia, 65, has served as undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under Cardinal William Levada, formerly of Portland.
Born in 1943, he was ordained a priest in 1970 after studies at Cardinal Hayes High School in New York, Providence College, and the Dominican House of Studies. He has a master’s degree in philosophy and several theology degrees, including a doctorate from Yale University in 1980.
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