Pope Benedict XVI has made two key appointments to the Roman Curia, naming new secretaries to the Congregation for Clery and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.On May 7, the Vatican announced that Bishop Mauro Piacenza has been named by the Pope as the secretary of the Congregation for Clergy.
That post has been open since March, when Archbishop Csaba Ternyak, who had held the office since 1997, was named Archbishop of Eger, Hungary,
On the same day, the Pope named Bishop Michele Di Ruberto as Secretary of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, replacing Archbishop Edward Nowak. Both new secretaries will receive the title of archbishop as they assume their new duties.
Archbishop-elect Piacenza, a 62-year-old native of Genoa, has been serving since 2003 as president of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Patrimony of the Church and the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology. He will continue in those posts ad interim, the Vatican announcement indicated-- presumably meaning until a replacement is announced.
He will be the second-ranking official in the Congregation for Clergy, serving under Cardinal Claudio Hummes, the Brazilian prelate appointed as prefect in October 2006.
Archbishop-elect Di Ruberto will be moving up in rank from his current post as undersecretary of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. He will continue serving under Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, the 75-year-old Portuguese who has headed the Congregation since 1998.
The appointment of Bishop Di Roberto is somewhat unusual in that the 72-year-old Italian will replace a younger man. Archbishop Nowak, who is 67, had held the post of secretary for an extraordinary 17 years. He will become "secretary emeritus" while assuming mostly honorary new duties as assessor to the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher and canon of St. Peter's basilica.
The departure of Archbishop Nowak from the top ranks of the Roman Curia diminishes the strong Polish influence in the top ranks of the Vatican.
However, three Polish prelates remain in top posts: Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect for the Congregation for Catholic Education; Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, head of the Pontifical Council for the Laity; and Bishop Antoni Stankiewicz, dean of the Roman Rota.
In addition to the three Polish curial heads, Archbishop Henryk Hoser, is undersecretary of the Congregation for Evangelization, and a Polish Dominican, Father Wojciech Giertych, is theologian of the Papal Household.
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