The Bishop's Weekly Column from the Parish Bulletin

OUR LADY OF FATIMA

CATHOLIC CHURCH

The Shake-Up Cometh...

August 30th, 2006

We've been waiting a long time but Cardinal Bertone
assures us at long last the winds of change
are about to sweep through Rome.

Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, the named but not-yet-in-office Secretary of State, hasn't even got himself into Sodano's old office building and he's already opening up as to the sweeping changes we can expect to see in Rome in the near future. In an interview accorded to Il Giornale the soon-to-be number two in the Church let more than a few "cats out to the bag". Benedict XVI is planning a major overhaul and doubtless he's hatched the plot for months with Bertone in closed session. It will be remembered that Bertone and Ratzinger worked together for years in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and according to all Vatican watchers Bertone and Ratzinger are "two peas in a pod". Bertone will assume the role of "enforcer" but the policies will clearly be emanating from the Apostolic Palace. What can we expect ? The following brief extracts are enough to whet our appetites:

Two weeks before starting his duties as the new Vatican secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone declared that a reform at the Roman Curia is very likely to happen, in order to make it “smaller and more agile.”

In an interview published by Il Giornale, a Milan newspaper, Cardinal Bertone noted that in the last fifty years “two reforms of the Roman Curia have been conducted, one right after the Second Vatican Council, by Pope Paul VI and another one by Pope John Paul II”.

“After almost two decades, he added, an evaluation of how the dicasteries are organized is more than comprehensible, in order to reflect on how to make the existing structures more efficient for the mission of the Church and eventually to consider whether all of them should be maintained.

Quite a few people have opined to me of late that they were wondering why the Pope was moving so slowly. An earlier column referenced the Pope's main problem: "A Napoleon without Generals". In order for the Pope to reform the Church he needs to spring-clean the Curia and get a team in place that supports this Pope's agenda. Some time ago Sandro Magister had a most interesting column on Bertone's usefulness to the new Pope which is well worth a perusal to glean some idea of what Bertone now admits is just about to be sprung in Rome. Pay close attention to Magister's remarks about Archbishop Ranjith and the liturgical changes waiting in the wings. September and October look like being very lively months (for a change !) As I mentioned in my last column Cardinal Re's continued tenure at the Congregation for Bishops is of small concern - the Congregation could be suppressed or even merged with the Secretariat of State or the Congregation for the Clergy which Dario Castrillon Hoyos heads up (and he's also the Head of the Traditionalists' department Ecclesia Dei.)

+TF