He is the former Archbishop of the San Francisco Dioceses and has the Pope's old job at the Vatican. He's been a close confidant of Pope Benedict XVI for almost 30 years and when Levada left San Francisco five years ago, he expressed confidence in the pope's efforts to deal with abuse by priests.
"Cardinal Ratzinger and his staff, I think, have set up a very good, they've done their best to deal with the priest issues involved. And I think one of the reasons, I speculate, that he may have thought of me, apart from my background and experience in that congregation, is that an American comes with good knowledge, good experience, of what really is happening here and I think that's a plus for the Vatican," said Levada back in 2005.
Part of Cardinal Levada's responsibilities at the Vatican now include reviewing sex abuse claims against priests.
