Pope Leo XIV appoints new President of Pontifical Academy for Life and Bishops for Slovakia, Venezuela

Pope Leo XIV has made key appointments in the Vatican and abroad, naming a new president for the Pontifical Academy for Life and appointing bishops for the Military Ordinariate of Slovakia and the Diocese of San Carlos de Venezuela.

The Holy Father has appointed Msgr. Renzo Pegoraro as President of the Pontifical Academy for Life. Msgr. Pegoraro, a bioethicist and medical doctor, has served as Chancellor of the Academy since 2011.

A priest of the Diocese of Padua, he has a distinguished academic background in medicine and moral theology and has taught bioethics at several institutions, including the “Bambino Gesù” Paediatric Hospital in Rome. His appointment signals a continuity in the Church’s engagement with ethical issues concerning life, medicine, and human dignity.

In Slovakia, Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Bishop František Rábek from the pastoral care of the Military Ordinariate. He has named Rev. Pavol Šaigalik, O.F.M. Cap., as the new bishop military ordinary. Bishop-elect Šaigalik, born in Bratislava in 1964, is a Capuchin friar with a doctorate in pastoral theology. He has served as military chaplain, spiritual assistant to the Slovak Catholic Mission in Switzerland, and held leadership roles within his order in Slovakia.

In Venezuela, the Pope appointed Rev. Alexander Rivera Vielma as Bishop of San Carlos de Venezuela. Born in 1974, he is a priest of the Archdiocese of Mérida and has served as vicar general, seminary rector, parish priest, and judge of the archdiocesan Ecclesiastical Tribunal. He holds a licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.

The appointments reflect Pope Leo XIV’s continued attention to strengthening leadership in both pastoral and academic spheres of the Church, ensuring faithful and informed guidance for the People of God.