Thursday, February 09, 2006

Journey Into Egypt?

It seems that Monday's interdicasterial meeting, the first of this pontificate, might just feature more than the SSPX question -- which, thanks to the Lefebvrists' well-honed penchant for intransigence, now seems to have solved itself -- on its agenda.

Your humble narrator took an extra-long midmorning siesta (to make up for working late into the night), only to come to and find several missed calls from Rome in quick succession.

Here's the story: As implied in this morning's story on the prospective new secretary at the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, further feed on the curial tinkering -- known to some as "lo tzunami" -- is starting to "pour out."

As could be expected with such tightly held plans, everything is fluid and changes by the hour. But the ops in the field will be keeping a close eye to see if anyone's dancing or, conversely, if there are long faces on certain dicastery heads Monday afternoon.

Most of the rejiggering of the Roman offices will involve the Pontifical Councils, many of whose lines often tend to cross -- e.g. the intersections of Laity and Family; Migrants and Itinerants, Justice and Peace, Cor Unum; Culture and Social Communications, etc.

One notable Council's hand seems to have already been dealt, with strong buzz in the air indicating that it will be pieced apart, its various components spread across a streamlined and beefed-up coterie of second-tier dicasteries, with one desk likely being transferred up -- way up -- the Roman food-chain. Its president, a curial veteran, is said to have been briefed on the plans. His own future is looking to involve a change of location.

Stay tuned.

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