Pope Francis has appointed Fr. Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, general counsellor of the Society of Jesus, as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, the Holy See Press Office announced today. Fr. Juan Guerrero Alves, who succeeds Cardinal George Pell, was born in Mérida, Spain, on 20 April 1959 and entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus in 1979. He was ordained a priest on 30 May 1992. He holds the following academic degrees: a licentiate in economics from the Autonomous University of Madrid (1986); a licentiate in philosophy and letters from the same university (1993); and a licentiate in theology from the Comillas Pontifical University (1994). He has served as professor of social and political philosophy at the Comillas Pontifical University (1994-1997 and 1999-2003); as master of novices of the Jesuits in Spain (2003-2008); as provincial superior of the province of Castilla (2008-2014); as treasurer of the Society of Jesus in Mozambique (2015-2017); and as director of the Saint Ignatius of Loyola College (2016-2017) in the same country. Since 2017, he has served as delegate of the superior general in Rome for interprovincial homes and works, and as general counsellor of the Society of Jesus.