Because Tosatti wrote the blog entry below in a very informal manner, the post is not a literal translation of the blog, but summarizes its information and leaves out the circumlocutions.
Pope won't name
new CDF head
till after Easter
Adapted and translated from
It seems Benedict XVI has decided to put off till after Easter his decision on whom he will name to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to succeed Cardinal William Levada, who turned 75 this month and had informed the Pope earlier that he intended to retire upon reaching that milestone.
In recent weeks, the Pope has had a private audience with someone who has been thought a probable candidate to succeed Levada - Mons. Gerhard Mueller, Bishop of Regensburg.
It is a position Mueller would welcome, since he has apparently indicated that the other possibility - to succeed Cardinal Raffaele Farina as Holy Roman Librarian-Archivist - reportedly 'leaves him cold'.
But it is also possible that Mueller may be appointed Archbishop of Mainz, instead, to succeed Cardinal Karl Lehmann, who is suffering from poor health.
It appears that Benedict XVI is seeking an Anglophone cardinal to name to CDF, because the sex abuse problem has been most serious in two English-speaking countries, the United States and Ireland.
What Tosatti does not mention is that last month, AGI's Vaticanista Salvatore Izzo wrote an article in which he states that the Pope will likely name Cardinal Angelo Amato, now Prefect of Saints, has been pegged to succeed Levada. Amato was Cardinal Ratzinger's #2 man at CDF in his last three years at CDF. Izzo wrote this at the time Benedict XVI announced the new cardinals:
In fact, his nominations today must be seen from a different angle - that of an 84-year-old Pontiff who wishes to complete the arduous task of putting in place a completely revamped Roman Curia (different from what he inherited) largely made up of people he trusts.
This will become clearer in the near future with the arrival in Rome of the Bishop of Regensburg, Gerard Mueller, to be the new Librarian and Archivist of the Holy Roman Church, and with the changing of the guard at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where Cardinal William Levada, who takes canonical retirement next month, will be succeeded by Cardinal Angelo Amato, who in turn, will be succeeded at the Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood by Cardinal Angelo Comastri, now Arch-Priest of St. Peter's Basilica.
In short, Benedict XVI's fourth consistory is principally aimed at reinforcing the administrative heart of the Church, the Roman Curia.
[zzo's last point, of course - though fairly obvious to anyone following the Pope's Curial appointments - has somehow been overlooked by everybody else, including all his other his fellow Vaticanistas, who insist on criticizing the Pope's choices for his fourth consistory as being not representative enough and having too many Curial prelates.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 28/02/2012 20:21]