certainly the most complex logistical enterprise in recent Roman memory" and "a carnival such as Rome has not seen since the days of Nero". He was President of Peregrinatio ad Petri Sedem from 8 November 1997 to July 2001. On 18 February 1999, he was made a member of the Congregation for the Clergy. On 9 April 2001 Pope John Paul named him Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. As Prefect he was ex officio the Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Urban University. In 1995, as head of the Congregation, he helped implement a priest-sharing program among dioceses worldwide to help redress the geographical imbalance in vocations. He also said that the Vatican was facilitating the return of hundreds of priests who had left the active ministry and married in civil ceremonies, but who were now divorced or widowed and were "sincerely sorry" for having strayed from their vocation. In 1997 he said a relaxing of the celibacy rule for Latin Rite priests would not ease the vocations crisis and would have no theological or pastoral foundation. Pope John Paul made him Cardinal-Deacon of Dio Padre misericordioso in the consistory of 21 February 2001. At the age of 57, he was the youngest official of the Roman Curia named a cardinal in decades. He participated as a cardinal elector in the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI, where he was also one of the cardinals named to the group that handles the ordinary affairs of the Apostolic See until a new pope is chosen, and in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis. Pope John Paul named him a member of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America on 6 August 2002, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on 6 September 2002, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity on 8 November 2002, the Special Council for Asia of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops on 28 May 2004, and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts on 20 November 2004. Archbishop of Naples On 20 May 2006, he was appointed Archbishop of Naples. With that appointment, he became a Cardinal-Priest with his deaconry elevated pro hac vice to title. He was the first head of a Roman dicastery in decades to be given a diocesan appointment. He disputed the idea that his reassignment to Naples from the Roman Curia represented a demotion. Sepe