Pope makes key appointments

2006-06-22 19:20

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI has named 71-year-old Italian cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to the key post of secretary of state for the Vatican, replacing cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican confirmed on Thursday.

The announcement, confirming news reports earlier in the day, follows rumours in recent weeks of Sodano's departure from the post he has held since 1990.

The Vatican also named Giovvani Lajolo, currently foreign minister for the Catholic Church's government, to the post of governor of Vatican City starting on September 15.

Lajolo, 71, held the top diplomatic post for three years and will replace American Edmund Casimir Szoka, who is 78. His successor as foreign minister has not been named.

Sodano, 78, was appointed by John Paul II, and was confirmed in his position - referred to informally as the pope's "prime minister" - in April last year by Benedict XVI.

Cardinal Bertone, a pillar of the Italian Catholic Church, is currently archbishop of the north Italian port city of Genoa.

Unlike his predecessor, Bertone does not have experience as a diplomat. But he worked closely with the German-born pope for seven years in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

- AFP