Well, the Bertone business heats up again
Il Papa ha deciso: il nuovo Segretario di Stato sarà il cardinale Tarcisio Bertone, attualmente arcivescovo di Genova. Lo apprende Apcom da fonti autorevoli. L’annuncio del successore di Angelo Sodano non è ancora stato ufficializzato dalla sala stampa della Santa Sede, ma la nomina è stata già firmata
According to the Papa Ratzinger Forum:
According to some excited postings just now in the main forum, a television channel in Italy has announced that the Pope has signed the document naming Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to be the new Secretary of State…
There’s more talk, in both the Forum and in the first article linked from La Stampa, about Navarro-Valles, Papal spokesman, some suggesting that he’s going to the UN, but others quoting, I believe that La Stampa article to this effect:
In a separate story, Navarro-Valls said in a television interview that he has formally asked Pope Benedict XVI to let him go, but he claimed he intended to stay on in Italy where he wished to do some book research.
In the interview he said the two episodes he treasures most from his Vatican years with John Paul was the Pope’s first meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev, whom he found to have a forceful personality ("very human and with an incredible interior density even if he is not a believer") and his many meetings with Mother Teresa.
With Benedict VI, he singles out Auschwitz. "I think that, after the visit by a German Pope, the hermeneutics of Auschwitz-Birkenau has changed, and one must always keep in mind that most beautiful discourse by the Holy Father and the images of him in that extermination camp."
Why the interest in the Secretary of State? Here’s the description of the dicastery’s responsibilities, from the Vatican website:
The Secretariat of State is the dicastery of the Roman Curia which works most closely with the Supreme Pontiff in the exercise of his universal mission (Pastor Bonus, Art. 39).
There are essentially two dimensions to the role of the Secretariat of State: internal and external. The external – the relations with other states – is easiest for us to understand, since it seems to have its corollary in the U.S. system of government. But just as important is the internal:
In conformity with Arts. 41-44 of Pastor Bonus, the Section for General Affairs or the First Section is responsible for handling matters regarding the everyday service of the Supreme Pontiff, both in caring for the universal Church and in dealing with the dicasteries of the Roman Curia. It attends to the preparation of whatever documents the Holy Father entrusts to it. It enacts the provisions for appointments within the Roman Curia and keeps custody of the Lead Seal and the Fisherman’s Ring. It regulates the duties and activity of the Holy See’s Representatives, especially in relation to the local Churches. It attends to all that concerns the Embassies accredited to the Holy See. It supervises the Holy See’s official communication agencies and is responsible for publishing the “Acta Apostolicae Sedis” and the “Annuario Pontificio”.
In other words, the Secretariat of State is the office we might call "Gatekeeper." To take a recent example, it was widely speculated that the Maciel case was hampered by Sodano’s sympathy to the group and to Maciel:
"Dear Father, I’ve seen the great work that you do," Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, said to Father Maciel while embracing him during a November 2003 visit to Regina Apostolorum.
On May 20, 2005, the Secretariat of State under Cardinal Sodano released a statement indicating there was no canonical case against Father Maciel, nor was one foreseen. It is the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, however, that has responsibility for sex abuse cases, and the congregation continued its inquest.
Bertone will be the first to hold this office (if he’s going to!) without previous Vatican diplomatic experience in a long while. He is the member of the Salesians.
Speaking of the Maciel, his replacement had an audience with the Pope yesterday, and according to ZENIT (which is a Legionary-run news service), he said:
The general director of the Legionaries of Christ renewed his congregation’s commitment to serve the Church in a letter he delivered personally to Benedict XVI.
The audience took place this morning, confirmed the Vatican press office.
"With profound humility and veneration," the letter states, "the Legionaries of Christ and members of the Regnum Christi movement want to express, through me, their filial affection, and renew their unconditional support to your person and your ministry, as Vicar of Christ and visible head of the Church."
The text continues: "We are moved by the certainty of faith that only in Peter’s bark will we sail toward the sure port of our salvation.
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