New Vatican secretary of state to arrive in Rome Saturday

(ANSA) – Vatican City, November 12 – The new Vatican secretary of State will arrive in Rome on Saturday, his predecessor Tarcisio Bertone said Tuesday. “Piero Parolin will begin his service shortly,” he added. Parolin was appointed by Pope Francis in late August and was slated to formally assume his position last month but a medical operation prevented him from traveling from his native Veneto. Bertone’s departure marks the end of an era. Appointed by Benedict XVI in 2006, he was known as a divisive figure in the Vatican Curia, the Church bureaucracy. In the last phase of the former pontificate, Bertone also was involved in the so-called “Vatileaks” controversy where confidential Church documents were leaked to the press by the former pope’s butler in 2012.

In contrast, Parolin belongs to the diplomatic tradition.

Until 2009 he served in the office of the secretary of state for relations with states which, in practice, serves as the deputy foreign minister of the Vatican.