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Four County Catholic September 2013
Pope Francis Appoints New Secretary of State 5 Leading Vatican Officials to Remain in Office Vatican - Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Pietro Parolin, apostolic nuncio to Venezuela, as his new Secretary of State. In accepting the resignation of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who is 78, the Pope asked Cardinal Bertone to remain in his position until October 15 “with all the faculties proper to the office,” according to the Holy See Press Office. On that day, the press office added, “His Holiness shall receive in audience Superiors and Officials of the Secretariat of State, in order publicly to thank Cardinal Bertone for his faithful and generous service to the Holy See, and to introduce them to the new Secretary of State.” Acting effectively as “prime minister” for the Roman Pontiff, the Secretary of State is the second-ranking official at the Vatican, with broad authority over the internal actions and diplomatic policies of the Holy See. “At this moment, in which my appointment as Secretary of State is made public, I desire to express deep and affectionate gratitude to the Holy Father, Francis, for the unmerited trust he is showing me, and to make known to him once again my willingness and complete availability to work with him and under his guidance for the greater glory of God, the good of the Holy Church, and the progress and peace of humanity, that humanity might find reasons to live and to hope,” Archbishop Parolin said in a statement. “It is with trepidation that I place myself in this new service to the Gospel, to the Church and to Pope Francis, but also with trust and serenity – disposed – as the Holy Father has asked us from the beginning – to walk, to build and
to profess,” he added. Citing Pope Francis’s homily at his Mass with the cardinal electors
in March, Archbishop Parolin continued,
“May our Lady, whom I like to invoke under her titles as Our Lady of Monte Berico, Guadalupe and Coromoto, give us ‘the courage to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the Lord’s Cross; to build the Church on the Lord’s blood which was poured out on the Cross; and to profess the one glory: Christ crucified. And in this way, the Church will go forward.’” The Holy See Press Office also announced that Pope Francis has decided that Cardinal Bertone’s four chief aides will all remain in their offices. Since 2011, Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu has
served as Substitute for General Affairs – in essence, the chief of staff responsible for the internal work of the Roman Curia. Archbishop Dominique Mamberti has served as the Secretary for Relations with States, or Vatican foreign minister, since 2006. Archbishop Becciu’s chief assistant, Monsignor Peter Wells, will remain as Assessor for General Af-
fairs, and Archbishop Mamberti’s chief assistant, Monsignor Antoine Camilleri, will remain Undersecretary for Relations with States. In addition, the press office announced that Archbishop Georg Gänswein, appointed Prefect of the Pontifical Household in December 2012, will remain in that office.
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