De Propaganda Filoni: "Chief of Staff" Becomes "Red Pope"

(SVILUPPO: As duly foreseen, everything noted below -- Filoni to Propaganda, and the appointment of his successor as Sostituto -- officially came to pass at Roman Noon Tuesday with the moves' respective announcements in the Bollettino of the Holy See Press Office.)

* * *

After less than four years in the post that's principally responsible for overseeing the machinery of the Roman Curia -- essentially the Vatican's answer to the White House chief of staff -- Archbishop Fernando Filoni's reportedly off to redder pastures.

As early as tomorrow, the 65 year-old Sostituto (Substitute) of the Secretary of State is expected to be named the next prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples -- the venerable Vatican office still widely known by its name of centuries past, De Propaganda Fide (the Propogation of the Faith).

The move buzzed about for weeks, its timing was given earlier today by the most prescient of the Italian vaticanisti, Andrea Tornielli, now of La Stampa.

His ex officio elevation to the college of cardinals essentially a lock at the next consistory, the prefect of the dicastery that oversees the Catholic world's vast reaches of mission territory is traditionally dubbed the "Red Pope" as a reflection of both the power his congregation wields... and, indeed, the blood far too frequently shed by persecuted Christians in the mission lands. Among other instances of the Prop's clout, the office's sizable resources (burnished by income from its long-maintained Roman real-estate holdings) provide a significant amount of funding to the efforts of the developing church, and the congregation's cardinals are responsible for recommending appointees to the episcopacy in mission areas, a task which falls to the Congregation for Bishops only in more established locales.

(While the continental US emerged from over a century of Prop Fide's oversight in 1913, just one of these shores' 197 local churches continues to be supervised by the mission office: Alaska's 410,000 square-mile Fairbanks diocese, whose 20 active priests each have to cover a territory roughly the size of West Virginia... just in case anyone else thought they had it tough.)

Provided the report pans out, the Evangelization post would continue its predominant modern tradition of going to a diplomat -- an especially useful background for the job, given the church-state clashes that often arise in places where Catholics are a pronounced minority. And in this case, moreover, the presumed choice has extensive experience in the mission church... above all, in what's arguably become its most hurting hot-spot.

Prior to his return to the Home Office in 2007, Filoni served as a staffer at the papal nunciatures in Sri Lanka and Iran, but ultimately for six years as apostolic nuncio in Iraq, a tenure which spanned both the US-led invasion and the country's post-Sadaam descent into chaos -- and during which time, so it's said, he was the lone diplomatic mission-chief who declined to leave Baghdad. Given the high profile of Iraq's hemorrhaging Christian community -- some 60 of whom were massacred in its capital's Syriac-Catholic cathedral last October, with most of the rest who haven't fled living in a constant state of fear -- the connection between Filoni's past and future is of no small significance, and in it lies another sign of the Holy See's particularly intense concern for the church there, which has been much in evidence since before the first Gulf War. (Further underscoring the church's challenge in today's volatile Middle East was the weekend's news out of Egypt, where a dozen Coptic Christians were killed after riots that began with the burning of one of their churches by Muslims. According to reports, nearly 200 of the perpetrators have been arrested, and nearly 230 people were injured as a result of the violence.)

At the same time, an ever more pressing area on the Prop's docket is China, as shown by Pope Benedict's late 2010 appointment of the Hong Kong Salesian Savio Hon as the office's new #2, becoming the first ever Chinese named a senior Vatican official. While the freshly-elevated deputy is now understood to be serving as Rome's lead point-man on matters pertaining to Beijing and the Mainland's difficult divide between the state-sanctioned Patriotic Catholic Association and the sizable underground church which has maintained its loyalty to Rome, Filoni likewise happens to bring an unusual amount of his own Chinese exposure, having served the better part of the 1990s as part of the Hong Kong-based "study mission" which, though formally accredited to the nunciature in Manila, served as the Holy See's discreet "bridge" to the Chinese Mainland.

The next Propaganda chief will succeed Cardinal Ivan Dias -- himself a three-decade veteran of the diplomatic corps -- who was transferred to the post from the archbishopric of Bombay in 2006. Having just turned 75 last month, the cardinal's retirement is coming atypically early for a Curial chief due to years of reportedly intensifying diabetes, the impact of which is said to have left him in declining health.

Back at the Big House, though, so the consensus goes, the next Sostituto is likewise tipped to come from another historically fraught (but, of late, notably improving) church-state scenario, with the nuncio to Cuba, 62 year-old Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu (above, con Caridad de Cobre), widely reported as holding the "pole position" to take over the "guts" of the Holy See's day-to-day operations. (On a side-note, given the difficulty the Holy See's had in its communications efforts and getting up to speed with new technologies -- all of which falls within the Sostituto's remit -- if Becciu's presence on Facebook is any indicator, the process should jump-start in short order.)

Six years into his pontificate, B16 has named all but one of the heads of the top ten Vatican offices, the prefect of Catholic Education, Polish Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, being the lone holdout from the reign of John Paul II.

A month from next week, the pontiff's first major "cabinet" pick following his election -- his own successor at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, LA-born Cardinal William Levada -- reaches the retirement age.

-30-

Saturday at the Vatican: POTUS Meets "His Holy Father"; Pope Thinks (and Moves) Things Eastern

The president of the United States hadn't even departed the Vatican and his first papal audience of B16's reign when the Holy See announced that its point-man in Iraq for the majority of the US-led war was the Pope's new chief of staff.

The Pope's excuse for the timing: it's St Ephrem's Day.

In the noon Bollettino -- published as the Bushes wended their way toward their motorcade, parked in San Damaso -- Benedict XVI confirmed the long-expected promotion of Archbishop Leonardo Sandri from Sostituto of the Secretariat of State to the top job of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, naming in his place the nuncio to the Phillipines, Archbishop Fernando Filoni who, from his episcopal ordination in 2001 until being dispatched to Manila last year, had served as apostolic nuncio in Jordan and Iraq.

The appointment of the 61 year-old Filoni completes Papa Ratzi's makeover of the top ranks of the first dicastery of the Roman Curia. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone SDB became the Vatican's "prime minister" last September, at the same time Archbishop Dominique Mamberti was entrusted with the post equivalent to that of its foreign minister. As the Sostituto oversees the flow of information and decisions going to and from the Pope and, at least formally, is the superior of the pontiff's official staff in the papal apartment, the appointment is a particularly key one.

Born in Argentina to Italian parents, Sandri, 63, became sostituto in 2000. Underscoring the post's importance in the life and activity of the Roman pontiff, he became known as the "designated hitter" who would deliver the addresses and homilies of John Paul II when the late Pope became unable to speak toward the end of his life. On the evening of 2 April 2005, it fell to Sandri to tell the world, "We all feel like orphans this evening," as he made public the news of John Paul's death.

In a precedent-setting move, the Vatican released statements from Sandri and Filoni on their appointments. The prefect-designate of the Oriental Churches -- who now takes his place at the front of the line for a red hat come consistory time -- voiced his "awareness" of the great treasuries of "liturgical prayer, spiritual tradition, monastic life, the lives of so many saints, and the teachings" possessed by the Eastern rites, pledging to make good on the confidence placed in him by Benedict. Sandri announced that, to help facilitate a smooth transition to Filoni, the pontiff had asked him to stay on in his current post until 1 July.

For his part, the new Sostituto likewise thanked the Pope, saying he approached his new post with no little amount of anxiety, but feeling reassured by the Jesus' words from the Gospel of Luke, "When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do'" (17:10).

As the presidential party departed for the US embassy to the Holy See and a meeting with the leaders of the Sant'Egidio movement, SCV 1 -- the Pope's car -- was unusually parked outside. Its purpose, only becoming clear with time, was to take the Pope to the Eastern congregation to personally announce the appointment of the new prefect and mark the dicastery's 90th anniversary.

At the congregation, Benedict noted the confluence of Sandri's appointment with the feast of St Ephrem -- the 4th century doctor of the Syrian church -- but speaking more of the last Pope Benedict, who made Rome's office for the Eastern churches independent from the old Propaganda Fide on 1 May 1917. Quoting B15's motu proprio establishing the congregation as a stand-alone dicastery, B16 reminded his audience that "in the church of Jesus Christ -- which is neither Latin, nor Greek, nor Slav, but Catholic -- no discrimination can exist between its sons and daughters."

(Given the coming motu proprio of B16 on matters concerning the Western church, that insight could provide some usual food for thought for both sides of the contemporary conversation.)

Receiving Bush -- who has shown an inexplicable tendency to repeatedly refer to the Pope as "His Holy Father" -- what the Vatican termed "the worrisome situation in Iraq" and the "critical conditions" of Christian communities in the Middle East was raised. Later, at a press conference with the Italian premier Romano Prodi, the president spoke of Benedict's concern that "the [Iraqi] society that was evolving would not tolerate the Christian religion... He's worrisome about the Christians inside Iraq being mistreated by the Muslim majority."

As crowds of anti-war demonstrators converged on Rome's city center to protest Bush's visit, the president gave the pontiff a Mosaic walking stick (shown above), made by a formerly homeless Dallas man with the Ten Commandments carved into it. Benedict's gift to the commander-in-chief was even more precious, and message-packed: a rare first edition of the autobiography of John Carroll of Baltimore, the founding bishop of American Catholicism.

In its formal statement on the meeting, the Holy See said that "discussions also turned to the question of Africa and its development, also with reference to Darfur, and there was an exchange of opinions on Latin America.

"Finally contemporary moral and religious issues were examined, among them those concerning human rights and religious freedom, the defense and promotion of life, marriage and the family, the education of the young and sustainable development."


PHOTO: Reuters/Plinio Lepri

-30-

The Evening Remix

Here's a sampling from the Wide World o' Church:

• As pundits and politicos swirl around the remains of the White House's "grand compromise" on immigration reform, the US hierarchy's senior immigrant has lent his voice to the church's efforts to keep the issue on the front burner. Penning an op-ed yesterday in his hometown San Antonio Express-News, Archbishop Jose Gomez wrote that despite last week's Senate defeat of the bipartisan deal, the issue "won't go away, no matter how much politicians would like it to," saying that while it's a given that "our system is broken and past fixing," the time had come "to summon the courage, the compassion and the spirit of compromise we need." Born in Mexico, the nation's top Hispanic churchman -- a numerary of Opus Dei -- wrote that the heated debate had led people to be "scared now, expressing fears in angry and polarizing rhetoric," noting among the "legitimate concerns" that "we're afraid we're mired in a foreign war we might not win." However, saying that he spoke from the vantage of "a Catholic archbishop and a proud American citizen," Gomez exhorted the political class to be mindful that "we can't legislate out of fear."

• If this one were a post all it's own, its headline would be something like "Heading For the Door, Brighton Rector Conjures Salem." Brighton, of course, is shorthand for Boston's St John's Seminary, whose library recently formed part of the sale of a second chunk of the archdiocese's onetime central campus to neighboring Boston College (price tag: $65 million). And the latter refers to the site of the famous witch trials of the late 1600s. So, why Salem, you ask? Because one can almost hear Dominican Fr John Farren seeking to resurrect the charges against the incoming Jesuits. A month before his term was set to expire, Farren jumped ship in advance after the archdiocese announced the BC sale, and his briefing to the seminary board and letter of resignation were leaked to the Boston Globe, where fireworks were had. The outgoing rector accused the chancery -- which is leaving its longtime headquarters for a suburban office park -- of "fail[ing] to consider that a seminary is more than property." Flouting the pontifical secret on the findings of 2005's Apostolic Visitation of US Seminaries, Farren cited the Vatican report re: St John's, specifically the visitation team's recommendation that "in order to ensure the integrity of the seminary... no more property [on the campus] should be sold." He also took issue with the site's impending occupancy by the faculty of BC's Weston Jesuit School of Theology, saying that "several" of its staffers were "self-professed gays or lesbians," with others "currently under investigation by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith." The sale's procceding, he noted, would cast a conception that St John's "has no realistic probability of surviving" and that, in Boston's bicentennial year, "there could be nothing but shame and embarrassment if we appear to forsake our own mandate, mission and values for 30 pieces of silver." Speaking for the archdiocese, vicar-general Fr Richard Erickson told the paper that "We are preparing men for ministry in the 21st century in an extraordinarily diverse diocese of 144 communities, 2 million Catholics, and many urban centers, and if our seminarians don't face these challenges and issues as seminarians, they will the day they're ordained. I'm not afraid that having a very diverse and wide experience at seminary is somehow going to corrupt our seminarians." (In other things Beantown, the gay marriage referendum sought by the bishops of the commonwealth fell five votes short of making it to the ballot; the vote in today's Constitutional Convention was 151-45. Supporters of the amendment needed 50 votes for the measure to proceed.)

• The ever-addicting daily bytes from Catholic World News pulled up a notable 2004 interview with the Holy See's then-point-man in Iraq, now the incoming Vatican "chief of staff" Archbishop Fernando Filoni, who was named Sostituto of the Secretariat of State over last weekend. Remembered for his solicitude to the bombed-out communities in the wake of the US invasion, Filoni was one of the few top diplomats to remain in Baghdad as the war's fury bore down. When asked the country's state a year after the war's start, he told the influential Italian journal 30 giorni that "the degradation of the civil and moral fiber of the population is grave" and that "the precariousness of daily life is visible everywhere." "The dignity of a people has been offended," he observed, "its ancestral traditions ignored, its soul divided." Citing John Paul II's advocacy for peace in the run-up to the conflict, Filoni recalled a story of a blocked aid delivery to Sadr City. Thinking it was a provision from the Western forces, the food and water were only admitted after "the people knew that it was aid from the Pope, [and] they said: these we accept, and we are grateful." Currently the papal nuncio in the Philippines, Filoni takes office as the top aide to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on 1 July.

• Last week, city council here in Philadelphia kicked up the dust by declaring the City of Brotherly Love a "pro-choice city." Members seemed to forget that, though the Democratic primary (which, for all intents and purposes, is the city's general election) took place last month, they still face voters again in November. After complaints "flooded" City Hall, and members realized the move could make the autumn ballot something less of a formality -- though, candidly, not by much -- the symbolic resolution was rescinded at this morning's weekly session. On a side note, the winner of last month's five-way nomination for the city's top job, former Councilman Michael Nutter, is a product of the city's Jesuit high school St Joe's Prep. Unless you count Mayor (now Governor) Ed's stint at Villanova Law, Nutter -- in effect, the Mayor-in-waiting 'til the November coronation -- will be the first holder of the office with a Catholic education since the late, loved, lamented Frank Rizzo. Born into Catholicism, Nutter -- also a Wharton grad -- now worships with his wife and daughter at their Baptist church, something his opponents sought to tar him by leafleting the parishes the Sunday before the election. Thankfully, the trick didn't stick. Oh, and Councilman-at-large Juan Ramos, a permanent deacon, won't be returning to the chamber come January; he lost his fight for re-election at the primary.

• Speaking of abortion in the public square, the Holy See isn't bringing Amnesty International flowers (or funding) anymore over the latter's push to see abortion access increased. In comments this week to the National Catholic Register, the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Cardinal Renato Martino railed against "the pro-abortion pressure groups which continue their propaganda in the framework of what (the late pope) John Paul II called 'the culture of death,'" saying it was "extremely worrying that an organisation as worthy as Amnesty International bends to the pressures of these groups." Amnesty hit back, saying that "a misrepresented account of our position on selective aspects of abortion" on the part of the Vatican "is placing in peril work on human rights."
  

• Closer to home, after his Rudy riposte of two weeks ago, a liberal pressure-group has asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate Bishop Tobin of Providence, alleging that the prelate's critique of Giuliani's abortion stance violated the prohibition of "electioneering" required by tax-exempt organizations. And, after a protest by the lay PAC Fidelis, the campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has removed a photo of the Democratic contender with Bl. Teresa of Calcutta from one of its advertisements.
  

• And, lastly, while one of his counterparts is said to be holding an "episcopal telethon" under fiscal duress, the head of the Italian episcopate Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa has received another death threat -- three bullets in an envelope. The package, the second of its kind, follows in the wake of remarks the archbishop gave in late March assailing Italy's proposed DICO legislation, which would grant marriage-esque rights to cohabitating, unmarried couples, same-sex included. In his controversial speech to church workers, Bagnasco framed the church's opposition to the measure as the same response it would give to proposals that would give state sanction to incest and pedophilia. Within days, the Genoa cathedral was scrawled with graffiti and, amid an early wave of threats, the prelate was placed under police guard.
  

-30-

As Star of the "New" Evangelization, Pope Calls "Golden Child" to Rome

Over the seven years since Francis' election, the activity of the Roman Curia has largely taken a back-seat to the doings of the Pope himself. Yet while that reality is due to a number of factors, for once, it is certainly not the case today.

In an extraordinarily rare Sunday announcement – and on a major feast, no less – at Roman Noon on the Immaculate Conception, Francis named Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 62, until now the head of Asia's largest diocese in Manila, as prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples: the 400 year-old entity which oversees the missionary works of the global church.

The last cardinal to be elevated by Benedict XVI before his resignation from the papacy, Tagle's full-time arrival on the Vatican stage – and the massive notice it'll be showered with – reflects that rarest of things on this beat: genuine, undisputed "star power." Over his decade on the global scene, the new Propaganda chief has attracted a cult following that extends well beyond the sizable Filipino diaspora worldwide, in large part given his tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve (and, with it, use his sleeve as a Kleenex).

In terms of the "old Curia," today's move represents Francis' most significant personnel pick since the then-new pontiff named now-Cardinal Pietro Parolin as his Secretary of State within six months of his election in 2013. Then again, not for nothing has the prefect of the Prop Fide long been dubbed the "Red Pope" for the considerable power that the post exercises across a broad swath of the Catholic world.

Known mostly by his own nickname, "Chito," Tagle's habit for either riding a bicycle or the bus even after becoming a bishop at 44 saw him cited as a sentimental papabile going into the 2013 Conclave, and while his seasoning since has kept that thought in evidence through Francis' pontificate, the addition of a major Curial post on his CV will inevitably be seen in some quarters as a move toward "succession planning" on the part of the reigning Pope, who once reportedly confused the boyish-looking cardinal for a seminarian in an elevator at the Domus.

In that light, given his new office's mammoth real-estate holdings and liquid assets – all accrued over centuries to fund the mission works – the fresh scrutiny on the Vatican's portfolios amid a new round of financial scandals hands Tagle (pron.: "Tahg-LAY") an equally formidable challenge, both in terms of the daily stewardship of de Prop Fide's sprawling resources and, even more, flagging concerns over mismanagement.

Given that, as well as the congregation's responsibility for recommending appointments of bishops in the mission territories, this particular assignment can be viewed as a "test-pilot" for the papacy itself, arguably more than any other role. At the same time, though Francis' long-awaited constitution to drastically reform the Roman Curia remains in edits with his "Gang of 6" cardinal-advisers, it is notable that the last major draft of the text, titled Predicate Evangelium ("Preach the Gospel"), would see the Propaganda absorb the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, which Benedict XVI founded during the 2010-11 Pauline Year.

A theological historian of Vatican II, as the cardinal received his doctorate not in Rome, but at the Catholic University of America in Washington (under Fr Joseph Komonchak), today's move brings the first Roman stint of Chito's 37-year priesthood. Even prior to today's move, however, Tagle was already a regular in the city for his secondary work as president of Caritas Internationalis, the worldwide confederation of the church's charitable and humanitarian efforts.

Beyond his extensive travel, Tagle's visibility in the wider church has been bolstered by The Word Exposed – the half-hour TV program he hosts in metro Manila on each Sunday's readings, which is syndicated to other Catholic media outlets worldwide.

Today's move was made possible by Francis' transfer of Cardinal Fernando Filoni – the Propaganda's head since 2011 – to be grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. A former Sostituto best known as the lone ambassador who didn't flee Baghdad's "Green Zone" during the US-led invasion in 2003, it's notable that Filoni was moved 16 months before reaching the retirement age of 75.

With Filoni's appointment to the Grand Magistrate, the Bronx-born Cardinal Edwin O'Brien has retired as head of the millennium-old order dedicated to the protection of the holy sites in Jerusalem and Palestine, and the general support of the church in the Holy Land.

The 15th archbishop of Baltimore, and a Vietnam vet who later served a decade as chief of the 1.5 million US Catholics serving in uniform around the world, O'Brien has kept up a frenetic pace of travel on the order's behalf despite turning 80 in April.

In a change of his long-set plans, while O'Brien had aimed to return to the US – specifically, Baltimore and not New York – on his release from the Holy Sepulchre post, a Whispers op close to the cardinal relays that he will instead keep his primary base in Rome for the time being.

* * *

SVILUPPO: Even if formal word of Tagle's appointment surfaced at 7pm Manila time, the Chancery of the Pinoy capital says that the new prefect's first comment on the move won't come until tomorrow's Mass of the Immaculate Conception, the national patroness of the Philippines.

All told, meanwhile, if the epic significance of this move can be boiled down to an analogy from history, this is it:

With today’s Prop Fide move (https://t.co/8QmHoSvvNu ), Chito Tagle effectively becomes for Francis what Joseph Ratzinger was under JPII – the Curial embodiment of the pontificate’s key priority (here, evangelization), with the global cachet to be a force in his own right. pic.twitter.com/JXcoKdk1Dm

— Rocco Palmo (@roccopalmo) December 8, 2019

-30-

"The Rock That Is to Prevail": At Cardinals' Mass, the Pope on Peter's Chair

With this Sunday being observed in the Vatican as the feast of the Chair of Peter -- its usual date of February 22nd superseded by this year's Ash Wednesday -- the meaning of the celebration focused on the authority of the First Apostle and his successors took center stage as the Pope concelebrated Mass with the 22 new cardinals he created yesterday.

Looming over the Main Altar of the Vatican basilica stood the emblematic symbol of the Petrine office, referenced by the 265th Roman pontiff in his text: the massive Bernini sculpture of the chair, completed in the 1660s and held aloft by two key doctors of the East (Athanasius and John Chrysostom) and the West (Ambrose and Augustine). To mark the feast, over 100 candles dotted the massive reliquary, which is claimed to hold the original seat of the first Pope. Likewise, the famous Bernini statue of the Apostle in the nave of the church named for him was, per tradition, decked out in the papal attire of a cope, alb and papal tiara (seen above).

According to the ancient ecclesiology of the office, the College of Cardinals is constituted as "pars corporis" -- "part of the Pope's body" -- that is, a key component of his ability to govern the universal church, hence the common occurrence of Consistories to add to the ranks during this feast.

The feast of the Chair was first celebrated in the middle of the 4th century. With that brief background, here's the Vatican's English translation of Benedict's homily.

* * *

Dear Cardinals,
Brother Bishops and Priests,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On this solemnity of the Chair of Saint Peter, we have the joy of gathering around the altar of the Lord together with the new Cardinals whom yesterday I incorporated into the College of Cardinals. It is to them, first of all, that I offer my cordial greetings and I thank Cardinal Fernando Filoni for the gracious words he has addressed to me in the name of all. I extend my greetings to the other Cardinals and all the Bishops present, as well as to the distinguished authorities, ambassadors, priests, religious and all the faithful who have come from different parts of the world for this happy occasion, which is marked by a particular character of universality.

In the second reading that we have just heard, Saint Peter exhorts the "elders" of the Church to be zealous pastors, attentive to the flock of Christ (cf. 1 Pet 5:1-2). These words are addressed in the first instance to you, my dear venerable brothers, who have already shown great merit among the people of God through your wise and generous pastoral ministry in demanding dioceses, or through presiding over the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, or in your service to the Church through study and teaching. The new dignity that has been conferred upon you is intended to show appreciation for the faithful labour you have carried out in the Lord’s vineyard, to honour the communities and nations from which you come and which you represent so worthily in the Church, to invest you with new and more important ecclesial responsibilities and finally to ask of you an additional readiness to be of service to Christ and to the entire Christian community. This readiness to serve the Gospel is firmly founded upon the certitude of faith. We know that God is faithful to his promises and we await in hope the fulfilment of these words of Saint Peter: "And when the chief shepherd is manifested you will obtain the unfading crown of glory" (1 Pet 5:4).

Today’s Gospel passage presents Peter, under divine inspiration, expressing his own firm faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the promised Messiah. In response to this transparent profession of faith, which Peter makes in the name of the other Apostles as well, Christ reveals to him the mission he intends to entrust to him, namely that of being the "rock", the visible foundation on which the entire spiritual edifice of the Church is built (cf. Mt 16:16-19). This new name of "rock" is not a reference to Peter’s personal character, but can be understood only on the basis of a deeper aspect, a mystery: through the office that Jesus confers upon him, Simon Peter will become something that, in terms of "flesh and blood", he is not. The exegete Joachim Jeremias has shown that in the background, the symbolic language of "holy rock" is present. In this regard, it is helpful to consider a rabbinic text which states: "The Lord said, ‘How can I create the world, when these godless men will rise up in revolt against me?’ But when God saw that Abraham was to be born, he said, ‘Look, I have found a rock on which I can build and establish the world.’ Therefore he called Abraham a rock." The prophet Isaiah makes reference to this when he calls upon the people to "look to the rock from which you were hewn ... look to Abraham your father" (51:1-2). On account of his faith, Abraham, the father of believers, is seen as the rock that supports creation. Simon, the first to profess faith in Jesus as the Christ and the first witness of the resurrection, now, on the basis of his renewed faith, becomes the rock that is to prevail against the destructive forces of evil.

Dear brothers and sisters, this Gospel episode that has been proclaimed to us finds a further and more eloquent explanation in one of the most famous artistic treasures of this Vatican Basilica: the altar of the Chair. After passing through the magnificent central nave, and continuing past the transepts, the pilgrim arrives in the apse and sees before him an enormous bronze throne that seems to hover in mid air, but in reality is supported by the four statues of great Fathers of the Church from East and West. And above the throne, surrounded by triumphant angels suspended in the air, the glory of the Holy Spirit shines through the oval window. What does this sculptural composition say to us, this product of Bernini’s genius? It represents a vision of the essence of the Church and the place within the Church of the Petrine Magisterium.

The window of the apse opens the Church towards the outside, towards the whole of creation, while the image of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove shows God as the source of light. But there is also another aspect to point out: the Church herself is like a window, the place where God draws near to us, where he comes towards our world. The Church does not exist for her own sake, she is not the point of arrival, but she has to point upwards, beyond herself, to the realms above. The Church is truly herself to the extent that she allows the Other, with a capital "O", to shine through her – the One from whom she comes and to whom she leads. The Church is the place where God "reaches" us and where we "set off" towards him: she has the task of opening up, beyond itself, a world which tends to become enclosed within itself, the task of bringing to the world the light that comes from above, without which it would be uninhabitable.

The great bronze throne encloses a wooden chair from the ninth century, which was long thought to be Saint Peter’s own chair and was placed above this monumental altar because of its great symbolic value. It expresses the permanent presence of the Apostle in the Magisterium of his successors. Saint Peter’s chair, we could say, is the throne of truth which takes its origin from Christ’s commission after the confession at Caesarea Philippi. The magisterial chair also reminds us of the words spoken to Peter by the Lord during the Last Supper: "I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren" (Lk 22:32).

The chair of Peter evokes another memory: the famous expression from Saint Ignatius of Antioch’s letter to the Romans, where he says of the Church of Rome that she "presides in charity" (Salutation, PG 5, 801). In truth, presiding in faith is inseparably linked to presiding in love. Faith without love would no longer be an authentic Christian faith. But the words of Saint Ignatius have another much more concrete implication: the word "charity", in fact, was also used by the early Church to indicate the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Sacramentum caritatis Christi [the sacrament of the love of Christ] through which Christ continues to draw us all to himself, as he did when raised up on the Cross (cf. Jn 12:32). Therefore, to "preside in charity" is to draw men and women into a eucharistic embrace – the embrace of Christ – which surpasses every barrier and every division, creating communion from all manner of differences. The Petrine ministry is therefore a primacy of love in the eucharistic sense, that is to say solicitude for the universal communion of the Church in Christ. And the Eucharist is the shape and the measure of this communion, a guarantee that it will remain faithful to the criterion of the tradition of the faith.

The great Chair is supported by the Fathers of the Church. The two Eastern masters, Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Athanasius, together with the Latins, Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine, represent the whole of the tradition, and hence the richness of expression of the true faith of the one Church. This aspect of the altar teaches us that love rests upon faith. Love collapses if man no longer trusts in God and disobeys him. Everything in the Church rests upon faith: the sacraments, the liturgy, evangelization, charity. Likewise the law and the Church’s authority rest upon faith. The Church is not self-regulating, she does not determine her own structure but receives it from the word of God, to which she listens in faith as she seeks to understand it and to live it. Within the ecclesial community, the Fathers of the Church fulfil the function of guaranteeing fidelity to sacred Scripture. They ensure that the Church receives reliable and solid exegesis, capable of forming with the Chair of Peter a stable and consistent whole. The sacred Scriptures, authoritatively interpreted by the Magisterium in the light of the Fathers, shed light upon the Church’s journey through time, providing her with a stable foundation amid the vicissitudes of history.

After considering the various elements of the altar of the Chair, let us take a look at it in its entirety. We see that it is characterized by a twofold movement: ascending and descending. This is the reciprocity between faith and love. The Chair is placed in a prominent position in this place, because this is where Saint Peter’s tomb is located, but this too tends towards the love of God. Indeed, faith is oriented towards love. A selfish faith would be an unreal faith. Whoever believes in Jesus Christ and enters into the dynamic of love that finds its source in the Eucharist, discovers true joy and becomes capable in turn of living according to the logic of gift. True faith is illumined by love and leads towards love, leads on high, just as the altar of the Chair points upwards towards the luminous window, the glory of the Holy Spirit, which constitutes the true focus for the pilgrim’s gaze as he crosses the threshold of the Vatican Basilica. That window is given great prominence by the triumphant angels and the great golden rays, with a sense of overflowing fulness that expresses the richness of communion with God. God is not isolation, but glorious and joyful love, spreading outwards and radiant with light.

Dear brothers and sisters, the gift of this love has been entrusted to us, to every Christian. It is a gift to be passed on to others, through the witness of our lives. This is your task in particular, dear brother Cardinals: to bear witness to the joy of Christ’s love. We now entrust your ecclesial service to the Virgin Mary, who was present among the apostolic community as they gathered in prayer, waiting for the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14). May she, Mother of the Incarnate Word, protect the Church’s path, support the work of the pastors by her intercession and take under her mantle the entire College of Cardinals. Amen!

-30-

Biglietto, 2012

Here, in the Vatican's traditional precedence order, Pope Benedict's slate of cardinals-designate to be elevated on 18 February:

• Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples;
• Manuel Monteiro de Castro, Major Penitentiary of the Roman Church;
• Santos Abril y Castelló, archpriest of St Mary Major;
• Antonio Maria Veglió, president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Refugees;
• Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Government of the Vatican City-State;
• Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts
• Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Religious;
• Edwin Frederick O'Brien, grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre;
• Domenico Calcagno, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See;
• Giuseppe Versaldi, president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See;
  
• George Alencherry, Major-Archbishop of Erkugnalam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malybars;
• Thomas Christopher Collins, archbishop of Toronto;
• Dominik Duka OP, archbishop of Prague;
• Willem Jacobus Eijk, archbishop of Utrecht;
• Giuseppe Betori, archbishop of Florence;
• Timothy Michael Dolan, archbishop of New York;
• Rainer Maria Woelki, archbishop of Berlin;
• John Tong Hon, bishop of Hong Kong

...and likewise, the designates older than 80 -- and, ergo, unable to enter a conclave --who are given the red hat as an "honorary" gesture:

• Lucien Muresan, major archbishop of Fagaras and Alba Julia of the Romanians;
• Fr Julien Ries, Belgian historian/anthropologist of religion;
• Prosper Grech OSA, Maltese Biblical scholar;
• Karl Josef Becker SJ
  

-30-

"The Long Arms of the Pope" – On Scarlet Eve, It's Now Francis' College

Even if every new intake to the Pope's "Senate" is significant, some Consistories nonetheless have more meaning than others – and as Francis' fifth class of new cardinals, 14 in all, receive the red hat Thursday afternoon, the group represents a critical tipping-point.

Once the designates take their gilded red silk seats among their elders in the College, for the first time, Papa Bergoglio's appointees will hold a solid plurality of the electors in a hypothetical Conclave, his 59 creations younger than 80 comprising just shy of half the now-traditional maximum electorate of 120. members. Yet while prior pontiffs have passed that milestone in turn – in the case of John Paul II, so overwhelmingly that he died with all of three voting members chosen by his predecessors – Francis' shattering of norms in the identikit of his picks makes his contributions to the scarlet ranks all the more impactful, above all as it's one of the few aspects of ecclesial life and the charting of the church's future course that no successor can alter... at least, not overnight.

Of course, one facet of the shift has been completing the project undertaken by Paul VI and duly burnished by John Paul – the broad-scale internationalization of the College, with a dozen countries long on the Catholic "peripheries" either receiving their first-ever cardinal or the first in quite some time under Francis; among other examples, in the case of Scandinavia, a situation unknown since before the Reformation.

But given the reality that the cardinals don't merely elect the next Pope – one of them will be the next Pope – what's arguably the bigger element of the change is the lone quality that links this pontificate's kaleidoscope of choices across the board: their collective embodiment (at least, in Francis' judgment) of the "pastoral conversion" he sees as the sine qua non of ministry in the modern church.

What that entails for the future will only fully reveal itself with time. For now, though, the degree to which it's already prepared a "reset button" extending beyond Bergoglio's reign – in some cases, one that'll stretch for decades – is a remarkable feat all its own.

* * *

By centuries-old tradition, the Popes have considered the cardinals "Pars corporis nostri" – "Part of our body" – the concept fleshed out both in the ancient role of the College's members as legates to places the pontiffs couldn't personally go, and the "body" from which a new Bishop of Rome is generated. Yet just as creating new cardinals "expands the body" as well as reshaping it, together with tomorrow's new class, Francis has taken a deeper added step at forming the College in his own image and likeness with an enduring effect.

In a formal rescript issued yesterday, the Pope made the biggest change to the structure of his "Senate" since the post-Conciliar reforms of Paul VI, adding the Curia's top four current cardinals to the Order of Bishops.

Historically the heads of the six suffragan dioceses of Rome, until the 1960s the cardinal-bishops – led by the College's dean – didn't merely hold the titles to the posts but were literally expected to oversee their respective outlying churches; in the decades since, full-time bishops have been named to do the work. At that same time, Eastern patriarchs given the red hat were added to the rank.

By adding four more Latin cardinals to the College's front row – the Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, and the prefects of the Eastern Churches (Leonardo Sandri), Bishops (Marc Ouellet) and Propaganda Fide (Fernando Filoni) – the move's real significance again lies beyond this pontificate. Had a Conclave convened without the additions, as all the current cardinal-bishops are aged out of the election, the senior voter presiding over a papal election would've been the Maronite Patriarch, Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Raï, now 78. With the change, Parolin, 63 – a figure who's increasingly consolidated his clout as Francis' indispensable, near-omnipresent top deputy – now takes precedence and will oversee the voting process.

What's more, however, the change paves the way to another key aspect of succession-planning. As the cardinal-dean regardless of his electoral status leads the general congregations preceding a Conclave and, all told, effectively serves as the "administrator" of the Roman church during a papal vacancy, the new cardinal-bishops join the pool which'll elect a new dean and from which he will be chosen once the office falls vacant.

Though that process is always significant with an eye to an interregnum, it's increasingly so under current circumstances given the controversy surrounding the current dean, 90 year-old Cardinal Angelo Sodano – John Paul's heavily influential Secretary of State – who's endured years of blistering criticism over his treatment of high-profile sex abuse cases, most recently in Chile, where he served as Nuncio before returning to the Curia in 1990 and has maintained an outsize profile given his closeness to the country's embattled hierarchy. Along these lines, then, with the new cardinal-bishops Francis has sped up the clock on what happens in his wake, likely with an eye to having one of his own appointees take complete control of his succession.

Again, it'll be a while yet before that storyline comes to full light, but yesterday's step makes for a major building-block toward it.

In the meantime, the elevation of Cardinal-designate Angelo Becciu alongside his new post as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints means that one major puzzle-piece for the present remains to be filled: Francis' choice of the Sardinian's successor as Sostituto of the Secretariat of State – essentially the Vatican equivalent of the White House Chief of Staff.

A lifelong diplomat who most notably served as Nuncio to Cuba before taking up the Curia's "nerve-center" post under Benedict XVI, as Becciu ceases as Parolin's deputy upon his receipt of the red hat, the choice of his replacement in the all-important role is expected within very short order.

* * *

Simply because not each of its picks can be covered equally, every Consistory has its "star" – the new cardinal who, whether by historic novelty or personal attributes, becomes the center of gravity around which the story of the moment is viewed by the wider world.

In this case, that's a particular fait accompli – and, unusually, one which belongs to the intake's Curial contingent: given his already high profile as Francis' "man in the street," this time around the spotlight belongs to "Don Corrado," Polish Cardinal-designate Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner who becomes that office's first modern head to don the red hat.

A Vatican lifer from his early recruitment under John Paul II – notably brought to Rome by the saint's polarizing MC, now-Archbishop Piero Marini – Francis made clear his affection for and confidence in Krajewski (pron. "Cro-YEV-ski") from the very outset, bucking protocol to crash the latter's 2013 ordination as archbishop wearing just his white cassock and a stole, sitting among the concelebrants so he could join in for the laying on of hands (above).

More recently, in his latest interview – last week with Reuters, the first English-language wire service to land a papal sit-down – Papa Bergoglio raised the stakes even further, describing the Almoner's office as being on a par with the CDF (for centuries, the Curia's "supreme" organ), depicting the duo's respective works of teaching and charity as "the two long arms of the pope." (Of course, tomorrow will likewise see the elevation of the new CDF prefect, the Jesuit Luis Ladaria.)

For his part, in a distinct rarity among Francis' choices, Don Corrado received a heads-up that he "should listen to the Regina Caeli" at which his name would be announced among the new cardinals; at the time, the 55 year-old – by far this crop's youngest member – was riding his bike to his ground-floor Vatican office to prepare a food delivery later that Sunday to the poor on the edges of Rome.

Since learning that he'd be joining the College, and thus completing one of the hierarchy's most meteoric ascents in recent times, Krajewski has admitted to interviewers that the Pope's decision has come as a frustration, fearing that the "complications" of being a cardinal could prove an obstacle to his work, much of it spent directly aiding the homeless on the city's streets under cover of night – many, if not most of whom, he knows by name.

Yet at the same time, talking with La Stampa's Andrea Tornielli as the reality began to sink in, the Pope's lead field-marshal against a "throwaway culture" hit on the significance of his place in the mix... one which extends well beyond himself:

"It's almost as if Francis is wanting to say [that] those who take seriously the words of Jesus in the Gospel – feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the prisoner, receive the stranger – these are my principal collaborators."

And if that doesn't put Francis' "revolution" of governance in remaking the role of cardinals in its fullest light, then nothing ever will.

-30-

In China, "It's a War"

For all the local difficulties that could easily keep the Vatican brass up at night, by far, one situation likely trumps all the rest these days.

That distinction belongs to the state of the beleaguered church in China, where recent months have witnessed a spike of tensions that've served to further roil an already tenuous balance between the state-sanctioned "official" church and the "underground" faithful who clandestinely maintain communion with Rome.

Even if secularism and challenges to religious expression in society rate as key concerns on the ecclesial radar in Europe and the Americas, the Chinese drama that's flared in fits and starts over recent years rises to a threat level practically all its own. Because, in a nutshell, while many Westerners have come to be alarmed over external hurdles perceived to limit the presence of faith and the rights of believers in the public square, in the world's largest country, the church is unable to merely exist according to its own determination, its internal governance carried out under the close supervision of the state -- and, often, contingent upon the latter's approval.

Of the estimated 12 million Chinese Catholics, two-thirds are said to be affiliated with the clandestine church. Still, after a period of quiet interaction and public strides toward rapproachment in the wake of the Pope's 2007 Letter to the Chinese church, the temporary thaw between Beijing and Rome blew over last Fall as the government-sponsored Patriotic Catholic Association -- the Mainland's sole legal, public form of Catholicism -- signaled a return to its pre-detente practice of ordaining bishops on its own authority, lacking papal mandate (nor, for that matter, the discreet consultation that briefly had the Holy See signing off on the candidates presented by the state church).

Over the months since December's national PA meeting in Beijing which set the stage for the new appointments -- a gathering for which several clergy with Roman sympathies were reportedly rounded up by the civil authorities and forced to attend -- matters have only worsened. Following a first illicit ordination in November, a second rite was provocatively scheduled on last months' feast of Saints Peter and Paul, and today brought another of what could be as many as ten Patriotic-church elevations over the course of the coming months.

Notably, at least some of the clerics ordained by the PA were elected by the clergy and lay representatives of the dioceses in question. In at least two reported instances, though, the prelate chosen was the lone candidate on the ballot.

* * *

Much as it's been somewhat muted in mainstream news, the Vatican has taken to responding to the developments with a rare ferocity, publicly lobbing warnings of excommunication at the ordaining bishops and the candidates presented to them -- provided, however, that the participants were not made to perform the rites under force. And given said context, recent days have again brought reports that prelates in communion with Rome were either kidnapped or otherwise pressed to ensure their presence at the ordinations.

Shortly after the Holy See's "law office" released a lengthy statement outlining the penalties for illicitly-ordained bishops and "call[ing] for the bishops involved" in the liturgies "to recover their authority through signs of communion and penance," the Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi spoke of the Pope's "pain and concern" over the deteriorating situation following today's move. And elsewhere, the church's veteran lead voice on Chinese matters, Hong Kong's retired Cardinal Joseph Zen SDB, described the current state of affairs as "war" at a New York press conference held in response to the ceremony.

Earlier this week, Zen took out a half-page ad in a Hong Kong newspaper calling on Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to halt the Mass. On his retirement in 2009, the 79 year-old cardinal was succeeded by Bishop John Tong, a considerably more moderate voice on Mainland matters. (The appointment made amid the high season of Sino-Vatican calm, Tong's promotion was widely considered a Roman concession to Beijing.)

In the background, meanwhile, the downturn of relations has made for a significant first test for the Holy See's newA-team on China policy: Archbishop Savio Hon (above), a Hong Kong native and now #2 of the church's missionary office, who became the first-ever Chinese named a senior Vatican official late last year, and his freshly arrived boss at the Propaganda Fide, Archbishop Fernando Filoni, a veteran of the Hong Kong-based "study mission" that, during the 1990s, served as the Vatican's quiet diplomatic back-door to the Mainland.

Between them, the two bring an unprecedented depth of contacts and on-ground experience to Rome's dealings with the Forbidden City. Even amid the almost historically grave circumstances, expectations remain high that they'll be able to craft some sort of resolution, albeit with a strong awareness that no lack of time or delicacy is certain to be needed for the task.

In the meanwhile, though, signs of lasting progress that were felt to be increasingly possible not all that long ago -- high among them, a move of the Holy See's Chinese nunciature from Taipei to Beijing -- are now indefinitely on ice.

* * *

Sure, this isn't the sexiest of stories -- and one that, to some, might seem too far removed to matter terribly much in our own orbits.

In a church that's interconnected by definition, though, nothing -- or, for that matter, no one -- is ever "too far" to not be close to each of us... and in a world that's ever more catching up with a concept of communion, a shifting balance of power promises to have global implications over the decades to come, and not just on the political or economic fronts.

Along those lines, a strong commentary was published in the wake of today's latest ordination by the Rome-based editor of the comprehensive, influential AsiaNews website, the Italian missionary Fr Bernardo Cervellera, that Benedict's "pain and concern" shouldn't just be his alone, and calls out to be felt more, both in the church and the wider world:

The Pope’s "pain and concern," is due to the fact that through these moves to dominate the Church in China, the patient work of mending bonds between the underground and official Church that John Paul II and Benedict XVI both attempted, is unravelling. A divided church is slow to evangelization and moreover, it fails to guarantee its right and space for religious freedom from the Chinese Communist Party which, in theory, the same Chinese constitution allows....

The "pain and concern" is also for the lives of [its] bishops. Because of the Shantou ordination, Mgr. Paul Pei Junmin of Liaoning has not been able to leave his diocese, helped by all the priests who were with him to praying continuously for days, to prevent their bishop being kidnapped. Another pastor, Mgr. Cai Bingrui Xiamen managed to hide. But he is now wanted by the government authorities. Last December, another bishop, Mgr. Li Lianghui of Cangzhou (Hebei), went into hiding in order not to have to participate in another gesture against the Pope (the Assembly of Representatives of Chinese Catholics). The police hunted for him for days like a "criminal" and after finding him, forced him to three months of isolation and brainwashing to convince him of the Party’s "good intentions" towards the Church. It is possible that Mgr. Pei and Mgr. Cai have been subjected to isolation and political sessions, to tear them from their ministry and destroy them from a psychological point of view.

With all of this, we must say that those sharing the Pope’s "pain and concern," are all too few.

And first of all, they are too few in the Church. The World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, commissioned and implored by Pope Benedict XVI with the appeal of last May 18, found few dioceses ready to pray for the Church in China, its persecuted and "opportunistic" bishops.

Not to mention civil society. By now, the Yangtze River’s white dolphin, which risks extinction due to pollution in China, provokes a greater outcry than the extinction of freedom in a country that is destined to rule the world, but which uses heavy handed methods without batting an eyelid.

A rosé of presidents further encourages this attitude (including the Italian president) as well as Secretaries of State, who visiting China never fail to eulogise the "positive path" taken by Beijing on human rights, while – beyond bishops and priests - thousands of activists, petitioners, artists and writers are imprisoned and forcibly silenced....

It is not just a case of simple greed, of interest in the Chinese market, it is a matter of short-sightedness in not seeing that attacks on religious freedom, sooner or later, become attacks on all freedoms.

Indeed, even as many in the West might feel this "attack" on one front, across the globe, it's being experienced to a degree most of us couldn't fathom.

Luckily, though, it's not as if this church has to resign itself to look on powerlessly: not just in Rome, after all, the Catholic world is blessed with resources, networks, numbers, conviction -- above all, a voice -- to seek the good and to speak to the many wounds of this hurting world... but especially when they involve our own who're being made to suffer precisely because they're one with the rest of us.

That's not to say the world will change overnight, but if things are ever going to improve, it's gotta start somewhere, right? Ergo, even barring the bigger stuff, as a brutal story plays out for our own a world away, but not far at all from any of us, may we know the grace to simply be mindful of it, to use what we have to aid those who don't... and, no question, to remember how blessed we are in our own freedom, and to exercise it to its most life-giving result.

PHOTOS: Reuters(2,3)

-30-

Ode to the Corps

From the latest Economist, an appreciation of some of the hardest-working men in the business: the diplomatic corps of the Holy See.

Over the past century—despite the march of secularism—the Vatican's role in world affairs has expanded. In 1890 a famous English Catholic, Cardinal Manning, said the Holy See's diplomatic activities were “a mere pageant”, a medieval relic. He would be amazed to find that in 2007 papal diplomacy is more active than ever.

The real explosion came under John Paul II. When he was elected in 1978, the Holy See had full ties with 85 states. When he died, the figure was 174. Among states that dropped their misgivings were Margaret Thatcher's Britain, Ronald Reagan's America and Mikhail Gorbachev's Soviet Union. The Holy See now has full diplomatic relations with 176 states. Vietnam, China and Saudi Arabia are among the few without formal links. Recent years have also seen an expansion in the See's multilateral diplomacy. It sits in on the deliberations of 16 inter-governmental bodies, including the United Nations, the African Union and the Organisation of American States....

The pope's “diplomatic service” is a reminder of his unique and ambiguous status as both a religious and temporal leader. Formally, the pope's diplomats represent the Holy See—not the Vatican state which, under a 1929 accord with Italy, is the sovereign power in part of Rome. But in years past, some states (such as America in the 19th century) would deal with the pope only as head of a sovereign state. The fact that pontiffs wear two hats, temporal and spiritual, gives them, and their interlocutors, a certain flexibility. In 2001, when Greece's Orthodox clergy grumbled over a visit by Pope John Paul II, the government in Athens could retort that it was merely receiving him as a head of state.

But more and more governments have in recent years seemed happy to deal with the Holy See on its own terms, especially after John Paul II boosted its global profile. For any state, an embassy to the See offers attractions. For poor ones, it is a chance to garner information from one of the world's best-informed chancelleries. For powerful ones, it offers a way to influence the Vatican and seek papal approval. Napoleon told his man in Rome: “Deal with the pope as if he had 200,000 men at his command.” After some years in Rome, the envoy said 500,000 was nearer the mark.

The real extent of the Vatican's power is hard to compute. One in every six human beings was baptised into the pope's church. Of course, many quit the faith, but he remains a global opinion-former. His views can sway Catholic votes—a point not lost on American presidents, who rarely miss a chance to visit the Vatican. In Burundi all top politicians and expatriates flock to Archbishop Gallagher's residence for the papal feast day. Cutting a lower profile than his predecessor, the 53-year-old Englishman reports only “occasional” contacts with Burundi's rebel factions, the last of which signed a ceasefire agreement in September 2006. In the rich world one respecter of papal clout is Britain's new prime minister, Gordon Brown. Three years ago this son of a Presbyterian minister went to seek Vatican endorsement of a proposal to boost aid to poor nations. This year he returned to co-launch a plan to bring new vaccines to poor states.

Papal diplomacy is almost as old as the papacy. But it was not until 1500 that a permanent nunciature, or diplomatic service, was established, in Venice. The earliest Protestant state to send an ambassador was Prussia in 1805: its envoy was Baron Wilhelm von Humboldt, a philosopher and linguist. The first non-Christian state to establish relations was Japan, in 1942.

Of the countries with links today, only 78 keep missions in Rome—and they form one of the world's odder diplomatic corps. The embassy with the biggest staff, along with that of Germany, is the Dominican Republic's. Iran has a large mission, with as many diplomats as America. (“Who knows what other duties they have?” sighs a senior Vatican official.)...

Papal diplomats, all priests nowadays, are trained at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome. The academy has had a colourful history, once losing its assets to a rogue administrator. Its graduates do two jobs: representing the Holy See to the local government and keeping a vigilant eye on national churches. Vatican envoys usually stay longer en poste than secular ones (one nuncio was in Dublin for 26 years). Some cover vast cultural distances: the nuncio in Algeria was born in Taiwan.

Conventional diplomacy is a small part of what they do. “In most places, 95% of our work relates to the life of the church,” says a former nuncio. “The overwhelming bulk of the correspondence has to do with the appointment of bishops.”

Another big difference between papal and ordinary diplomats is that the former have little protection—and never pull out of dangerous situations. “The pope leaves his representatives to suffer with the people of the country to which they are accredited,” says a Vatican official.

That latter component of the corps' unique espirit is underscored by two high-profile departures from North American nunciatures this month, as Monsignors Michael Crotty and Matteo De Mori leave their posts in Ottawa and Washington, respectively, to take up assignments at the Vatican outpost in Baghdad.

The Iraq mission -- whose former head, Archbishop Fernando Filoni, is settling into the Sostituto's office in San Damaso -- also represents the Holy See in Jordan.

-30-