Franc Rode

Franc Rode (or Rodé; born 23 September 1934) is a Slovenian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, having served as prefect from 2004 to 2011. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2006. He was raised to the rank of cardinal-priest on 20 June 2016 by Pope Francis while retaining his titular church. Biography Early life and religious profession Franc Rode was born in Rodica near Ljubljana, in Yugoslavia (modern-day Slovenia). In 1945, he and his family sought refuge in Austria and later fled to Argentina in 1948. He entered the Congregation of the Mission, more commonly known as the Vincentians or Lazarists, in Buenos Aires in 1952, making his perpetual profession in 1957. Rode studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and at the Catholic Institute of Paris, from where he obtained his doctorate in theology in 1968. Rode is fluent in Slovene, Spanish, Italian, French, and German.