Pope appoints Ab Parolin new Secretary of State
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis named Archbishop Pietro Parolin to succeed Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone as the Holy See’s Secretary of State. Until now, Archbishop Parolin had been Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela. From 2002 until 2009, he served in the Secretariat of State as Undersecretary for Relations with States. Archbishop Pietro Parolin is fifty-eight years old and has been a priest since 1980. He was ordained bishop in 2009.Listen to our report: RealAudioMP3
Statement by Archbishop Pietro Parolin on the occasion of his appointment as Secretary of State.
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.
I feel very strongly the grace of this call, which is yet another and the latest of God’s surprises in my life. 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.
My thoughts go to my family and to all the persons who have been part of my life: in the parishes into which I was born and in which I served; in the dear Diocese of Vicenza; at Rome; in the countries in which I have worked – from Nigeria, to Mexico, and most recently in Venezuela, which I am sorry to leave. I think also of Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI, who ordained me bishop, I think of the Secretariat of State, which was my home for many years, of His Eminence, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, of the other Superiors, colleagues and collaborators and of the whole Roman Curia, as well as of all those who represent the Holy Father and the Holy See diplomatically around the world. I owe a great debt to all.
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 asked us at the beginning – to walk, to build and to profess.
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.”
And, as they say in Venezuela, “Que Dios les bendiga!”.
Caracas, 31 agosto 2013
Vatican Radio translation
Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/08/31/pope_appoints_ab_parolin_new_secretary_of_state/en1-724385
of the Vatican Radio website
3 comments:
Fr, what numbers should I pick in the lottery this week?
LOL!
Pope Francis regards nuncios as crucial to his (as yet to be fully annunciated) programme of reform. Too often nuncios were catspaws of national Bishops' Conferences. To my mind the latter have had a wholly baneful effect. They became self-perpetuating oligarchies, preventing bishops from running their own dioceses, controlling episcopal appointments, and in the case of England and Wales arrogating to themselves the right to ignore dicasterial instructions when it didn't suit them.
The present nuncio, Abp Mennini, is of a different stamp. Episcopal appointments (Davies of Shrewsbury, Gilbert of Aberdeen, Egan of Portsmouth, Hopes of East Anglia - the last-named a former Anglican who kick-started the Ordinariate and has celebrated the EF in Westminster Cathedral on more than one occasion) have been made on his recommendation. They are the shape of things to come, and when I look at recent appointments in the US like Cordileone and Sample I can't help but discern a trend.
Unlike yourself, Father, I don't claim clairvoyance. Benedict, despite his "Rottweiler" reputation, was not by nature authoritarian. Francis, despite his informality and affability (which are not in the least bit feigned; the human warmth of the man shines through) is the iron fist in the velvet glove. I don't think he envisages a legatine form of governance, but he sees nuncios, the modern form of papal legates, as key players and one of the first things he did in his pontificate was to urge them to take a more active role.
I've stated on my blog and at that more liberal blog, Praytell, that Pope Francis is not going to model the monarchy of Europe in his papacy, but the dictatorship of South America! That sounds harsh, I know, but what I meant is that this pope is going to enforce his vision and is exactly what you write John, "Francis, despite his informality and affability (which are not in the least bit feigned; the human warmth of the man shines through) is the iron fist in the velvet glove."
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