Pope names longtime aide Vatican No. 2 (It's official!)

Yahoo News ^ | June 22, 2006

[NYer]

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone of Italy, a longtime aide to Pope Benedict XVI and the first major church official to speak out against "The Da Vinci Code," was appointed Thursday as secretary of state, the Vatican's No. 2 official.

The pope also accepted the retirement of American Cardinal Edmund Szoka, 78, as governor of Vatican City and named Italian archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, 71, the Vatican's foreign minister, to succeed him.

Szoka is a former archbishop of Detroit.

The appointments nearly fill Benedict's team, which the German pontiff has been slowly assembling since assuming the papacy 14 months ago.

The Vatican said Benedict accepted the resignation of Cardinal Angelo Sodano, an Italian who has held the post of secretary of state for 15 years and at 78 is three years past the normal Vatican retirement age. The announcement said Sodano would remain in the post until Sept. 15.

Bertone, 71, worked closely for years with Benedict when he headed the powerful Congregation for the Faith, the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog. Pope John Paul II appointed him archbishop of Genoa in 2002.

Last year, Bertone sharply criticized Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code," saying the book espoused heresy and distorted the origins of Christianity. Although he broke the church's silence, he insisted he had not been put up by the Vatican to do so.

[NYer]

Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone (R) kisses Pope John Paul II's hand during the consistory in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican in an October 21, 2003 file photo. Pope Benedict on Thursday named Bertone to be the Vatican's next secretary of state, the number two job in the Holy See, whose holder is often dubbed the 'deputy pope.' Bertone, the 71-year-old archbishop of northwestern Genoa,will succeed Cardinal Angelo Sodano, 78, who is retiring after 15 years in the post. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi (VATICAN)

[Antoninus]

May Christ grant Cardinal Bertone the wisdom and understanding to carry out his new role effectively and with charity.

[NYer]

May Christ grant Cardinal Bertone the wisdom and understanding to carry out his new role effectively and with charity.

.... and with his healthy sense of humor :-)

[dangus]

>> Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone (R) <<

He appointed a Republican? Coooool. =^D