John Allen yesterday reported on the appointment of Jesuit Fr. Luis Ladaria, a Spaniard, as secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Fr. Ladaria is a patristics scholar, having dissertated at the Gregorian on The Holy Spirit in St. Hillary of Poitiers. He’s also done studies of Clement of Alexandria. Allen commented:

In many ways, serving as secretary of the CDF — traditionally known as La Suprema, or the “supreme” congregation — is one of the most important jobs in the Vatican, especially under a pope who cares passionately about the theological underpinnings of policy choices.

… That background [in patristics] may have recommended Ladaria to Benedict XVI, very much a man of ressourcement, or a return to the sources of the church, especially the Fathers.