Pope seeks Vatican revamp with new appointments
VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI’s changes at the head of various Vatican bodies this week show his willingness to revamp the Church after it was rocked by the pedophilia scandal, Vatican experts say. “He is imposing his style of firmness and transparency, after he realized that the pedophilia crisis risked threatening evangelization on a permanent basis,” Vatican expert Bruno Bartoloni told AFP. This week, Benedict created a new ministry to fight secularization in traditionally Catholic countries and replaced the heads of two other important ministries after the former chiefs reached the age limit of 75. Since his election in 2005, he has appointed new heads for 17 of the now 21 ministries at the Vatican. “The timid intellectual has descended from his ivory tower and is showing determination in his leadership,” said Vatican observer Giancarlo Zizola. In May, the Vatican said it would overhaul the powerful ultra-conservative Legion of Christ whose late founder Marcial Maciel was disgraced by sex abuse scandals. In recent months, Benedict has also accepted the resignation of half a dozen bishops involved in cases of pedophilia and in cover-ups. Recent appointments are a step forward in the “necessary general reform of the Roman Curia,” but the road ahead is still long to “bring about the changes mandated by the Second Vatican Council that (Pope) John Paul II did not have the courage to carry out, Zizola said.” Source: The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100705com3.html |
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