Countdown to the Shuffle

Tomorrow morning, Benedict XVI will hold his second meeting with his "cabinet" -- the heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia.

For weeks, between rumors of some kind of movement involving relations with the followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and the Pope's plans for the "renovation" of the church's central administration, the meeting has been hotly anticipated.

Seemingly as a run-up to tomorrow's session, Benedict received four of his curial heads in audience today:

• Cardinal Ignace Moussa I Daoud, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
• Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Councils for Justice and Peace and Migrants and Refugees
• Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops
• and Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the head of the Vatican library, who was received with an entourage

After he listened intently at his last sit-down with the superiors, held on 13 February, it's expected that this one will involve more words from the Pope. And, so it's said, the long-anticipated changes in the dicasteries could be publicly announced shortly thereafter.

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