Pope Francis on Saturday announced the appointment of Archbishop Pietro Parolin as secretary of state, replacing Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
Archbishop Parolin, 58, is currently the Vatican envoy to Venezuela and served as the Vatican’s deputy foreign minister from 2002 to 2009. He has led various Vatican diplomatic delegations in thorny geopolitical negotiations, including talks to improve relations with Vietnam, and has been a prominent voice at numerous international conferences on human trafficking, the climate and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Vatican noted that Bertone, 78, was retiring under a church law that requires cardinals who hold top curia posts to offer their resignations when they turn 75. Pope Benedict XVI had kept him in place, reportedly to the irritation of a rival faction of Vatican bureaucrats loyal to Bertone’s predecessor, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, a former longtime secretary of state
Archbishop Parolin said he was ready to tackle “a difficult and challenging mission” and pledged to work for “the good of the holy church, and the progress and peace of humanity, that humanity might find reasons to live and to hope.”
The secretary of state, the most senior Vatican official after the pope, oversees internal church affairs and guides foreign policy so the pope’s choice for the post directly affects the overall management of the Curia, the Vatican’s central administration.
But Francis’ appointment of various commissions to help him govern suggests that he will be less dependent on a single voice or department when it comes to making decisions. In April, the pope appointed a council of eight cardinals from around the world as an advisory board to help govern the church, and he has set up commissions to advise him as he considers changes to the operation of the Vatican Bank and the management of economic affairs.
Sources
Image: AFP/The Guardian
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