Piu di Stato

On Settimo Cielo, Magister's floating a newfound buzz toward the name of Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo as a heavy contender to be the next Secretary of State.

Of course, basically everyone except your humble writer has been mentioned in the various shortlists floating around, but until now Lajolo's name has been conspicuous by its relative absence. Before his appointment as Secretary for Relations with States (head of Stato's second section) in 2003, he was nuncio to Germany, which would've effected a closeness with the German advocate on the Congregation for Bishops, Ratzinger. And Archbishop Angelo Sodano held the very same job Lajolo has when John Paul tapped him to succeed Casaroli as the Holy See's "prime minister" in 1990.

Magister's showcase of Lajolo comes from an address the diplomatic chief gave earlier in the week in Krakow, focusing on the topic of "The Role of the Catholic Church in the Process of European Integration."

"From the point of view... that counts," Magister says, "it was very, very Ratzingerian."

Something to mull over.....

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