on 13 june 2017, pope francis appointed 45 ordinary members from 27 countries; thirteen were reappointments. a minority were catholic clergy. their five-year terms can be renewed until the mandatory retirement age of 80. included were an argentine rabbi and an anglican priest. academy president vincenzo paglia said that the inclusion of non-catholics, "either belonging to other religions or nonbelievers", was meant to demonstrate that "the protection and promotion of human life knows no divisions and can be assured only through common endeavor". five past leaders of the academy were also named honorary members. the members included such prominent "champions of the pro-life cause" as the american carl a. anderson, supreme knight of the knights of columbus, and cardinal willem eijk, archbishop of utrecht. the new member whose views were most at odds with church teaching was nigel biggar of the university of oxford who, though an opponent of assisted suicide legislation, once suggested abortion might be licit during the first eighteen weeks of a pregnancy. some of those not reappointed had been among the more vocal critics of paglia or known for their "combative tone", including michel schooyans, professor emeritus at the catholic university of louvain, and luke gormally, a former research professor at ave maria school of law.