Up until now, it was the Pope’s job to choose the men who would fill
these two top positions within the Italian Bishops’ Conference.
The plan is to change the statute of the Italian
Bishops’ Conference (CEI) to put an end to a historic irregularity and
allow it to elect its own president and secretary general. 
The CEI is currently the only bishops’ conference in the world to have its two top men chosen directly by the Pope.
In an attempt to improve collegiality, Francis is looking into the possibility of putting the Italian Bishops’ Conference on a par with the rest of the planet.
The Pope is Primate of Italy and Bishop of Rome, for this reason, the five year mandate for the leadership of the CEI was not decided by election but by papal appointment.
In general (though this is not obligatory officially), the appointment is preceded by informal steps, for example, consultations within the sixteen regional conferences, but the final decision lies entirely with the Pope.
In all other Bishops’ Conferences across the world, bishops elect their own representatives who do not necessarily have to be cardinals or have the potential to be cardinals, as the case of Zollitsch, the current president of the German Bishops’ Conference or, in the past, Gregory, in the U.S., show.
There are only two cases in which bishops do not vote for their leader: Belgium (as the Archbishop of Brussels is “ex officio” president) and the Latin prelates in Arab countries where the role always lies in the hands of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
But even in the case of these two exceptions, the Episcopate still elects its number two man, while in Italy the Pope also chooses the Secretary General.
As part of his general plan to reorganise Bishops’ Conferences, Francis is considering one possibility which would change the landscape of the Italian Bishops’ Conference: he is thinking of giving Italian Bishops’ the freedom to choose their own leaders.
“Some changes would need to be made to certain laws and procedures, there are no major canonical obstacles that cannot be overcome,” the Curia stressed.
Bishops’ Conferences do not have a theological foundation, as is the case with individual bishops, but a practical and solid foundation.
The reform which has been studied by Francis involves the greater involvement of national episcopates in the universal Church government and a greater collegiality in decision-making and the Pope’s right to appoint the CEI’s president and secretary general goes against the ecclesiological framework of this reform.
Next month, Bergoglio will take part in the Italian bishops’ assembly in the Vatican and will present some guidelines based on his extensive experience working within bodies representing the South American Episcopate.
This experience includes collaboration with the current Archbishop of Taranto (Southern Italy), Filippo Santoro, who worked as a missionary in Latin America until two years ago.
The possibility of granting the CEI the right to elect its own leaders had already been taken into consideration but then scrapped during Wojtyla’s pontificate.
Bergoglio was elected President of the Argentinean Bishops’ Conference.
His predecessor Quarracino had identified him as a potential substitute because out of Buenos Aires’ auxiliaries, he was the best-loved among the priests. His Jesuit master, Fr. Juan Carlos Scannone described Francis to Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano as a man who works as part of an orchestra.
“I don’t think he will be afraid to make reforms in the Church. But he will not do so suddenly; after all he does have Italian blood in him, he is the son of a Piedmontese family, so he will be very diplomatic, he will be able to introduce reforms, avoiding traumas and conflicts,” Scannone added.
Francis’ contemplation of giving away his right to appoint CEI’s two top figures is in tune with the “Bergoglio style”.