Archbishop Pietro Parolin said that he hoped to help mold a “less
bureaucratic and more efficacious” Roman Curia, in an interview with the
Italian daily Avvenire. The new Secretary of State—who will soon receive a cardinal’s red hat-- also spoke with Avvenire about Vatican diplomacy, saying that the Holy See has no “interests” or “strategies” other than the goals of promoting peace and the common good.
The archbishop said that the situation in the Middle East, and especially the threats against Christians, would be a major priority. He acknowledged that the “Arab Spring” uprising had “not achieved objectives such as greater democracy and social justice which seemed to have been the main motivation for the revolts,” and wondered aloud whether international leaders might have done more to promote those goals.
Regarding reforms in the Vatican’s financial structures, Archbishop Parolin declined to discuss specifics, saying that detailed plans are now being developed to ensure greater transparency. He did say, however, that the special commissions appointed by Pope Francis to oversee financial reforms would not become a permanent part of the Vatican bureaucracy.
These commissions were created to make recommendations, and are now doing so, he explained: “Their work as well as their mandate is about to conclude.”