Pope Francis appoints two new undersecretaries to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops: Mr. Nathalie Becquart and Fr. Luis Marín de San Martín.
By the Vatican News staff writer
Pope Francis has appointed Messrs. Nathalie Becquart and Fr. Luis Marín de San Martín as undersecretaries of the synod of bishops.
Currently led by Cardinal Mario Grech, the Synod of Bishops is a permanent institution created by Pope Paul VI in 1965, in response to the desire of the fathers of the Second Vatican Council to keep alive the spirit of collegiality engendered by the conciliar experience. .
The appointment of Mr Natalie Becquart is particularly interesting, as it is the first time a woman has been appointed to the post.
Biography of Mr. Nathalie Becquart
Nathalie Becquart was born in 1969 in Fontainebleau, France.
He graduated from the HEC School of Management with a Master’s in Management specializing in Entrepreneurship in Jouy-en-Josas in 1992 and studied philosophy at the Sorbonne University in Paris. Between 1992-1993 she spent her volunteer year in Beirut, Lebanon, working as a math and French teacher at a Catholic high school and taking philosophy and theology courses at the ISSR-St Joseph Jesuit University in Beirut. They then went on to work for two years as a consultant at a marketing and advertising agency for NGOs and Christian organizations (EJC consulting) in Paris.
Nathalie joined the Xaviere sisters, missionaries of Christ Jesus (Apostolic Congregation for Ignatian Spirituality) in August 1995 and made their final vows in September 2005.
Since then she has worked in various roles, including the spiritual director of the Ignatian Youth Network in France National Coordinator of the Scouting Program for Young People in Poor Urban Multicultural Areas, Scouts de France; President of the Ignatian association “Life at sea, entrance to prayer”; Director of the Ministry Campus in Créteil (University of Eastern Paris) and member of the diocesan office of the Ministry of Youth, diocesan coordinator of the WYD in 2007-2008; Deputy Director of the National Service for the Evangelization of Youth and Vocations (SNEJV), in charge of university pastoral care, at the French Episcopal Conference; Director of the National Service for the Evangelization of Youth and Vocations (SNEJV) at the conference of the French Bishop (September 2012-August 2018 for a period of 6 years); Member of the council of the bishop of the diocese of Nanterre France (with Bishop Michel Aupetit, who is now archbishop of Paris); Vice President of the European Vocations Service (CCEE).
Between 2016-2018 he was part of the preparatory team for the Synod on Youth at the Vatican; in October 2018, auditor at the Synod of Bishops on “Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment”.
Since then, until now, Mr. Nathalie has followed the Vatican’s sabbatical programs at the CTU (Catholic Theological Union) in Chicago, USA.
Biography Fr Luis Marín de Sant Martí
Luis Marin of San Martin was born in Madrid, Spain, the 21 of August of 1961.
He professed temporary vows in the Order of St. Augustine on September 5, 1982 and solemn vows on November 1, 1985.
From 1982 to 1988 he studied Philosophy and Theology at the Seminario Mayor Tagaste (Los Negrales, Madrid). He was ordained a priest on June 4, 1988 by Mons. Francisco José Pérez y Fernández-Golfín, auxiliary bishop of Madrid. It belongs to the Augustinian province of San Juan de Sahagún in Spain. He received a degree in Spiritual Theology from the Pontifical Comillas University of Madrid (1990); and another on Dogmatic Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome (1992); and PhD in Theology from the Pontifical Comillas University of Madrid (1998) with a dissertation on the ecclesiology of St. John XXIII, which he defended in 1995. He also obtained a diploma in Archival Studies (Vatican, 2011).
Between 1988 and 1990 he worked in the parish of Nuestra Señora de la Vid, in San Sebastián de los Reyes. He was a formator of the Augustinian formation house of Los Negrales between 1992 and 1999. He was rector “in solidum” of the parishes of the area of Montejo de la Sierra (Madrid) between 1992 and 1995. He was also director of Studio Teológico Agustiniano Tagaste (1995-1999) and the Centro Teológico San Agustín (1996-1998). He was part of the training team at the Professorium between 1996 and 1999. From 1999 to 2002 he served as provincial councilor for the Augustinian province of Spain and rector of the parishes of Santa Ana and Esperanza (Madrid). . From 2002 to 2008 he was prior of the monastery of Santa Maria de la Vid (La Vid, Burgos) and collaborated as a formator in the interprovincial novitiate. He taught at the Centro Agológico San Agustín (Los Negrales – San Lorenzo de El Escorial) and at the Estudio Teológico Agustiniano in Valladolid.
He is the author of several books and numerous articles in specialized magazines and publications. From 2009 to 2013 he was secretary of the Agustí Historical Institute. Since 2004 he has been teaching as a visiting professor at the Faculty of Theology of Northern Spain (Burgos). He has directed numerous spiritual retreats and exercises to religious and lay people. He has also led retreats and continuing education courses for priests and has developed an extensive pastoral ministry with the laity. He has been general archivist of the Order of St. Augustine since 2008 and as assistant general of the Order of the Augustinians and president of the Institute of Spirituality of the Augustinians since 2013.