Pope Leo XIV Appoints 12 New Consultors - Including 2 Notre Dame Professors to the Human Development Dicastery

On August 18, 2026, Pope Leo XIV appointed new Consultors to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

As stated in the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium , the Consultors of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, appointed for a five-year term, are chosen "from among the faithful distinguished by knowledge, proven ability, and prudence," and "their identification and appointment must respect, to the greatest extent possible, the criterion of universality." They are therefore theologians, canonists, priests, religious, and lay people—men and women—from all over the world who support the Dicastery with their specific human, scientific, pastoral, and ecclesial expertise, offering opinions and insights useful for addressing issues requiring specific study.

The new appointments, published in the Bulletin of the Holy See, are:
- Reverend Monsignor Peter Klasvogt , Rector of the Pontifical Teutonic College of Santa Maria in Camposanto in Rome (Italy);

- Reverend Francesco Coluccia , Director of the Office of Health Pastoral Care of the Archdiocese of Otranto (Italy), and Emmanuel Katongole , Full Professor at the Department of Theology of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend (United States of America);

- Reverend Sir Joseph Jeyaraj Swaminathan , SDB, Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome;

- the most illustrious Ladies and Gentlemen:  Omer S. Combary , Full Professor at the Department of Economics of the Thomas Sankara University in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso); Lucy Afandi Esipila , Regional Executive Secretary of Caritas Africa; Paolo Foglizzo , Editor of Aggiornamenti Sociali - Fondazione Culturale San Fedele of Milan (Italy); Peter G. Kirchschläger , Director of the Institute for Social Ethics at the University of Lucerne (Switzerland); Kathryn A. Koch , President and CEO of the Trust Company of the West in Los Angeles (United States of America); Jacqueline Remond , Adjunct Professor at the School of Theology of the Australian Catholic University in Sydney (Australia); Caren Rodrigues , Associate Professor at the Saint Joseph's Institute of Management in Bangalore (India); Clemens Sedmak , Director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame at South Bend

The new Consultants join those previously appointed. To see the complete list: Members and Consultants

Source - https://www.humandevelopment.va/it/news/2026/papa-leone-xiv-nomina-nuovi-consultori-dicastero.html