Vatican City — Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria to the Congregations for Doctrine of the Faith and to the Pontifical Council for the Family.

The cardinal is among the new cardinals who were created in the consistory of November 24, 2012. According to a Vatican communiqué dated January 31, the new cardinals have been appointed to different dicasteries and offices of the Roman Curia.

Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, O.M.M., Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, Lebanon was named a member of the Congregation of Oriental Churches, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, and the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

Cardinal James Michael Harvey, from America, was appointed to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.

Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, who leads the Syro-Malankar Catholic Archdiocese of Trivandrum, India, was named to the Congregation for Oriental Churches and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

Cardinal Lius Antonio Tagle of Philippines was made a member of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.

Finally Cardinal Ruben Salazar Gomez of Bogota, Colombia was appointed to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.