After 20 years as the master of pontifical liturgical celebrations, Archbishop Piero Marini was named president of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses Oct. 1.Archbishop Marini, 65, has spent all but three months of his priestly ministry working at the Vatican, starting in 1965 as an official of the office charged with implementing the liturgical changes called for by the Second Vatican Council.
His high profile as Pope John Paul II's master of ceremonies and his openness to the use of local music, instruments, languages and dance at papal Masses led some people to speculate he would be one of the first Vatican officials Pope Benedict XVI would replace.
Instead, he was in charge of Pope Benedict's public liturgies for more than two years.
It was Archbishop Marini who prepared Pope John Paul's funeral Mass and burial rites and the new rites for the conclave that elected Pope Benedict in 2005 and for his installation.
His leadership determined not only the prayers recited during the events, but extended to every detail, including the new urns into which the cardinals deposited their ballots and the new pallium -- a long white woolen band -- that Pope Benedict continues to wear when celebrating Mass in public.
In his 20 years as master of ceremonies, Archbishop Marini oversaw the development of new liturgies and rites for ecumenical celebrations, for the creation of cardinals, for canonizations and beatifications and for the celebration of holy years.
He accompanied Popes John Paul and Benedict on their trips abroad, preparing the liturgies months in advance, determining what elements of local culture would be included in the Masses, coordinating the movements of the altar servers and other ministers, and standing alongside the popes as they presided over the rites.
Announcing the archbishop's new appointment, Pope Benedict also named his successor: Msgr. Guido Marini, 42, the master of ceremonies to the last four archbishops of Genoa, including Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the current Vatican secretary of state.
He also had served as Cardinal Bertone's private secretary.
Msgr. Marini, who holds degrees in canon law and in psychology, is not related to Archbishop Marini, whom Pope John Paul named a bishop in 1998 and an archbishop in 2003.
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