Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Let's do the Curia Shuffle...
Benedict's first major Curia shake-up happened today. Angelo Sodano today resigned as Secretary of State. He was replaced by Tarcisio Betrone, Archbishop of Genoa. An interesting fact is that Cardinal Betrone has no diplomatic experience. He's been Archbishop of Genoa since 2002 and was Secretary for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith before that, which is no doubt where Benedict got to know him.
Another change is American Cardinal Edmund Szoka has resigned as the head of the Vatican City governate. He will be replaced by Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, who will most likely receive the red hat in next year's consistory.
These are two really big positions; The secretary of state effectively acting as "Prime Minister" and the head of the governate as "Foreign Minister". It will be interesting to watch and see if any major policy shifts become obvious.
Another change is American Cardinal Edmund Szoka has resigned as the head of the Vatican City governate. He will be replaced by Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, who will most likely receive the red hat in next year's consistory.
These are two really big positions; The secretary of state effectively acting as "Prime Minister" and the head of the governate as "Foreign Minister". It will be interesting to watch and see if any major policy shifts become obvious.
