Tornielli: Bring On the Bux

First reported in the current edition of The Tablet and noted on these pages, the buzz surrounding the "already signed" transfer of the CDW #2 Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith to his home see of Colombo spiked in the Italian press earlier today with a mention from Il Giornale's Andrea Tornielli, who wrote on his blog that, "destined" for the Sri Lankan post, Ranjith "also seems to be departing" the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments alongside its over-75 prefect, Cardinal Francis Arinze.

Echoing another part of the longstanding talk, Tornielli likewise notes the likelihood that the Spanish primate Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera will be named to the liturgy dicastery's top slot "before Christmas or at the beginning of the new year."

Implied in the post is the rising star on the Vatican scene of Fr Nicola Bux, a professor of liturgy at the Theological Faculty of Puglia and consultor to the Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith, Causes of Saints and, as of last month, the Office for Papal Liturgical Celebrations. A key player behind 2005's Synod on the Eucharist, Bux's new book on The Reform of Benedict XVI was reviewed by the Milanese scribe in today's print edition of the paper.

Well-juiced in this pontificate's inner circle, Tornielli's served as an imminent warning siren for several major moves, among them the Pope's winter revision of the 1962 Missal's controversial Good Friday prayer for the Jews, last year's transfer of Archbishop Piero Marini from the chief MC's post and the appointment of Gian Maria Vian as editor of L'Osservatore Romano.

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