Archbishop Burke Appointed to Supreme Tribunal

The Holy Father has appointed Archbishop Raymond L. Burke of the Archdiocese of St. Louis as a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. Others named include Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, and Archbishop Lluís Martínez Sistach of the Archdiocese of Barcelona.

The "Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura",

in addition to the function which it exercises as Supreme Tribunal, consults so that justice may be correctly administered in the Church. With many functions, the Apostolic Signatura judges the matters assigned to it in the Code of Canon Law; it extend the competence of tribunals; it extends the forum for strangers in Rome to cases of matrimonial nullity in extraordinary circumstances and for grave reasons; it supervises the proper administration of justice; it provides for the establishment of regional and interregional tribunals; it enjoys the rights assigned to it in concordats between the Holy See and the various nations. The Tribunal settles questions about the exercise of administrative ecclesiastical power which are referred to it. It also passes on conflicts of competence among the departments of the Holy See; it examines administrative matters referred to it by the Congregations of the Roman Curia as well as questions committed to it by the Holy Father. (source)