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By Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI named U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke and Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet to the council of cardinals and bishops advising the Vatican Secretariat of State on diplomatic matters, and he named Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City to the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers.
The appointments were announced at the Vatican Jan. 29.
Cardinal Burke, who heads the Apostolic Signature, which is the Vatican's supreme court, and Cardinal Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, were named to the advisory council along with Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, and Cardinal Fortunato Baldelli, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, another Vatican court.
The council of cardinals and bishops advises the section for relations with states of the Vatican Secretariat of State.
In other appointments, Pope Benedict named Bishop Wester, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration, to be a member of the pontifical council that promotes the pastoral care and rights of migrants, refugees, seafarers and others who are far from home.