VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has appointed a Spaniard as secretary for the Vatican's office for religious orders.
The appointment of the Rev. Jose Rodriguez Carballo, announced Saturday, is Francis' first appointment to the curia, or Vatican administration.
The 60-year-old Carballo, who was also elevated to archbishop, replaces U.S. Archibishop Joseph Tobin, who was transferred from the high-ranking Vatican post to the Indianapolis archdiocese of fewer than 230,000 parishioners following his efforts to resolve tensions between the Vatican and U.S. nuns.
Some theological conservatives had complained that the nuns had become too secular and political.
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