Big news out of the Vatican this morning, as one of America’s leading canon lawyers — and one of its most prominent lightning rods — gets a promotion. From Rocco:

This morning, Pope Benedict named Archbishop Raymond Burke of St Louis as prefect of the Apostolic Signatura — in effect, the church’s “chief justice” as head of its top court. The Wisconsin-born prelate, who turns 60 on Monday, succeeds Cardinal Agostino Vallini, whose long-expected appointment as papal vicar for Rome was also announced in today’s moves.

The first non-European named to head the historic tribunal, which dates from the 15th century, the archbishop’s appointment to the prestigious post — which will see Burke receive the cardinal’s red hat at the next consistory — is recognition of the A-list canonist’s proficiency in the law, but also serves to reflect the dominance of Signatura’s docket by cases from the English-speaking world. On the more practical side, the return to the Vatican’s top tribunal of the first US cleric to hold a senior post within its ranks — the second consecutive instance of an archbishop of the onetime “Rome of the West” being called out of town to a cardinalatial post — removes the American bishop most affiliated with the so-called “Communion Wars” from the fray in advance of another presidential election season.

Born in Wisconsin’s rural diocese of LaCrosse, Burke was ordained a priest by Pope Paul VI on 29 June 1975 — one of 359 clerics ordained together in commemoration of the Holy Year. Distinguished from early on by his canonical aecumen, after serving at home and studies in Washington and Rome, the Basselin scholar was called to the Curia as defender of the bond at the Signatura in 1989, making him the first US priest to hold a senior post at the top tribunal. Five years later, at 46, he was named bishop of his native diocese, where he served until his appointment to St Louis in late 2003.

Early word from the Gateway City says that the prefect-designate will depart for Rome in August, at which time the archdiocesan consultors would be charged with the choice of an administrator, pending the appointment of its ninth archbishop.

You can read more on the appointment, and Burke’s background at the Catholic News Service report.

UPDATE: There’s a pretty comprehensive write-up by Pat Rice at the St. Louis Beacon. Take a look right here.