Vatican City: Pope Leo XIV has appointed Filipino De La Salle Brother and former Education Secretary Armin Luistro as among the 19 new members of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. A report on the Catholic Bishop' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news website on Wednesday said Luistro's appointment was announced on Tuesday.

According to Philippines News Agency, the dicastery is tasked with promoting, encouraging, and regulating the practice of evangelical counsels, the CBCP report said, citing the apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia. The dicastery is also charged with approving cases in which a vowed member seeks to leave religious life or is asked to do so by their community.

Furthermore, it oversees the establishment of new religious orders, approves constitutions, and manages mergers, suppressions, and unions of orders and superiors general. Luistro is currently the superior general of the De La Salle Brothers, also known as the Brothers of the Christian Schools, the CBCP report said.

He was elected to the post in 2022, becoming the first Asian to hold the position. Before becoming superior general, Luistro served as president of De La Salle Philippines and headed the Department of Education (DepEd) under the administration of the late President Benigno Aquino III.