Antonio Cañizares Llovera

On 9 December 2008, Pope Benedict appointed him Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

On 4 March 2010, he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.[1] He is also a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for Bishops as well as the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. On 5 March he was appointed a members of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. He will hold these memberships until his 80th birthday.

Cañizares was elected to medalla nº 16 of the Real Academia de la Historia on 1 December 2006 and he took up his seat on 24 February 2008.[2] Cañizares is sometimes known by his nickname of "Little Ratzinger,"[3] referring to the similar beliefs and opinions between him and Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger, who himself is aware of and "very amused by this expression."[3]

In 2013 it was reported that the Congregation is preparing a booklet to help priests celebrate the Mass properly and the faithful to participate better. Cardinal Canizares Llovera confirmed this at an address at the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See on "Catholic Liturgy since Vatican II: Continuity and Evolution." "We are preparing it; it will help to celebrate well and to participate well. During his talk the cardinal reiterated the importance Vatican II gave to the liturgy, "whose renewal must be understood in continuity with the Tradition of the Church and not as a break or discontinuity." A break either because of innovations that do not respect continuity or because of an immobility that freezes everything at Pius XII, he said.[4]

He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that selected Pope Francis.

On 28 August 2014, Pope Francis appointed Cañizares Archbishop of Valencia and removed him from his role as Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments[5] He was installed on 4 October in a ceremony at the cathedral church.

In an interview in December 2008 Cañizares Llovera discussed the best way to receive the Eucharist: "What does it mean to receive communion in the mouth? What does it mean to kneel before the Most Holy Sacrament? What does it mean to kneel during the consecration at Mass? It means adoration, it means recognizing the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; it means respect and an attitude of faith of a man who prostrates before God because he knows that everything comes from Him, and we feel speechless, dumbfounded, before the wondrousness, his goodness, and his mercy. That is why it is not the same to place the hand, and to receive communion in any fashion, than doing it in a respectful way; it is not the same to receive communion kneeling or standing up, because all these signs indicate a profound meaning."

In August 2010, he said that, due to the impact of earlier cultural impact and formation in children who learn at an earlier age, who are faced with mature issues earlier, and who are enormously influenced by modern morality, ethical systems, and the mass communications media, it might be preferable to start preparations for receiving the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist at an earlier age, which could also lead to lowering the age of reception for those sacraments (which is now about 7 or 8, the age of reason, where young children begin to be held responsible for their actions and belief systems).

In regard to the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, Cañizares Llovera said that "[The] intention of the Pope has not only been to satisfy the followers of Monsignor Lefevbre, nor to confine himself to respond to the just wishes of the faithful who feel attached...to the liturgical heritage represented by the Roman Rite, but also, and in a special way, to open the liturgical richness of the Church to all the faithful, thus making possible the discovery of the treasures of the liturgical patrimony of the Church to those who still do not know it... even if there were not a single 'traditionalist' whom to satisfy, this 'discovery' would have been enough to justify the provisions of the Pope."

Speaking in the context of an abortion debate prompted by a Spanish government proposal, he said child abuse on the part of Catholic priests "cannot be compared with the millions of lives that have been destroyed by abortion. It has legally destroyed 40 million human lives."[6]