A noted Vatican-watcher is predicting two new appointments to the Roman Curia, to be announced soon.
Andrea Tornielli of Il Giornale, who has accurately predicted a
number of Vatican developments during this pontificate, writes that Pope
Benedict will soon name new secretaries for two Vatican offices.
The
Italian Msgr. Macello Bartolucci will become secretary of the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints, he says, and the Spaniard Msgr.
Celso Morga Uruzubieta will become secretary of the Congregation for
Clergy.
Both are already working on the staff of their respective
dicasteries; both will be ordained archbishops as they assume their new
roles.
Tornielli writes that the appointments will be announced imminently.
The
current secretary of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints,
Archbishop Michele Di Ruberto, is already 76 years old: more than a year
beyond the normative retirement age.
The post of secretary at the
Congregation for Clergy has been vacation since October, when the
previous occupant, then-Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, was appointed prefect
of the Congregation; he was subsequently elevated to the College of
Cardinals in November.
Meanwhile, Tornielli notes, the Vatican is waiting for an announcement
on an even more critical post. Cardinal Franc Rode, the prefect of the
Congregation for Religious, is also 76.
An announcement of his
retirement, and the appointment of his replacement, is expected soon.
SIC: CC/INT'L