Archbishop Pietro Parolin, apostolic nuncio to Venezuela,is appointed as new Secretary of State to pope Francis 1
While 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. During that time Archbishop Parolin will be able to
move from Caracas to Rome.
On October 15, 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. Exercising profound influence over the life of the Church,
the Secretaries of State of the last four decades have included Cardinal
Jean-Marie Villot (1969-79), Cardinal Agostino Casaroli (1979-90),
Cardinal Angelo Sodano (1991-2006), and Cardinal Bertone (2006-13).
Cardinal Sodano, who is now 85, remains the Dean of the College of
Cardinals.
Archbishop Parolin was born in 1955 in Schiavon, a town of 2,500 in the
northeastern Italian province of Vicenza, to a hardware store manager
and an elementary school teacher, according to a report by La Stampa’s
Vatican Insider. His father died in an automobile accident when he was
10, and the future prelate entered the seminary at age 14.
He was ordained in 1980 as a priest of the Diocese of Vicenza and earned
a degree in canon law. Entering the diplomatic service of the Holy See
in 1986, he served in nunciatures in Nigeria and Mexico and worked at
the Vatican in the office of the Secretariat of State.
From 2002 until 2009, the prelate served as Undersecretary for Relations
with States, the second-highest position in the section of the
Secretariat of State with purview over foreign affairs. In 2009, Pope
Benedict appointed him apostolic nuncio to Venezuela and ordained him
and four other Vatican officials as bishops at a Mass in St. Peter’s
Basilica.
“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.
“I feel very strongly the grace of this call, which is yet another and
the latest of God’s surprises in my life,” he continued. “Above all, I
feel the full weight of the responsibility placed upon me: this call
entrusts to me a difficult and challenging mission, before which my
powers are weak and my abilities poor. For this reason, I entrust myself
to the merciful love of the Lord, from whom nothing and no one can ever
separate me, and to the prayers of all. I thank all those who have
shown and who, starting now, will show me understanding, as well as for
any and all manner of help that anyone might desire to offer me in my
new undertaking.”
“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, Msgr. Peter Wells, will remain as
Assessor for General Affairs, and Archbishop Mamberti’s chief assistant,
Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, will remain Undersecretary for Relations with
States.
In addition, the press office announced that the Pope has confirmed
Archbishop Georg Gänswein in his position as Prefect of the Pontifical
Household, a position he has held since December 2012. Archbishop
Gänswein served as personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, and
continues to work with the retired Pontiff.
As the top-ranking official on the Pope's staff, Archbishop Parolin will
undoubtedly be raised to the rank of cardinal at the next consistory.
However, his authority as Secretary of State may not match that of his
predecessors, if Pope Francis chooses to change the functions of the
Secretariat of State as part of his program for reform at the Vatican.
Also still to be determined is the future role of Cardinal Bertone. He
remains, for now, the chairman of a panel created by the Pope to
supervise the Vatican bank; he is also the camerlengo, who would
handle some administrative duties in case of the Pope's death. His
predecessor as Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, still wields
considerable influence at the Vatican.