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Catholic World News News Feature

Key appointments in Roman Curia June 11, 2007

Pope Benedict XVI has made two important appointments in the Roman Curia.

• Archbishop Fernando Filoni, who has been serving as the apostolic nuncio in the Philippines, will become the sostituto, or deputy Secretary of State. He will replace Archbishop Leonardo Sandri.
• Archbishop Sandri will become the prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches. He will replace Cardinal Ignace Moussa I Daoud, who is retiring at the age of 76.

The sostituto is a highly influential official, functioning in a role similar to that of a White House chief of staff. He presides over the First Section of the Secretariat of State, which handles all the paperwork and appointments for the Roman Curia. In the past the office of sostituto has been held by many prelates who went on to higher office, including Pope Paul VI.

The new sostituto, Archbishop Filoni, is a veteran of the Vatican diplomatic corps who has served in critical assignments: in Hong Kong during the Chinese assumption of control; in Iraq during the 2003 war; and now in the Philippines. The Italian native won great admiration from the people of Iraq by refusing to leave Baghdad during the bombing campaign there.

Archbishop Sandri, a native of Argentina, has been sostituto since 2000. Although most of his work has been done quietly, he became more prominent during the last weeks of the life of Pope John Paul II, when the archbishop was often called upon to read prepared texts for the ailing Pontiff. It was Archbishop Sandri who first announced the death of Pope John Paul to the crowd keeping vigil in St. Peter's Square.

The retirement of Cardinal Ignace Moussa I Daoud had been anticipated for some time. The Syrian-born prelate is well past the mandatory retirement age of 75; he will celebrate his 77th birthday in September. He had been appointed prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches by Pope John Paul II in November 2000. Prior to that appointment he had been the Patriarch of Antioch and worldwide leader of the Syrian Catholic Church.