Cardinal Parolin tells Pope that Secretariat of State’s 246 employees are mosaic of faith and love
June 06, 2025
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, delivered a greeting to Pope Leo XIV during the June 5 papal audience with superiors and officials of the Secretariat of State.
Cardinal Parolin said that the Secretariat of State, founded in 1487, currently has 246 employees: 181 in the Section for General Affairs, 59 in the Section for Relations with States (created by Pope St. Pius X in 1908), and six in the Section for Pontifical Representations (created by Pope Francis in 2017).
“We come from many parts of the world,” said Cardinal Parolin, “all the continents are represented,” as well as different “categories of the people of God”: “bishops, priests, men and women religious, lay people.” They form—in the words of L’Osservatore Romano’s paraphrase—“a varied mosaic, but one united by faith and love for the Lord Jesus and for the Church, as well as by service to the Petrine ministry.”
Cardinal Parolin also offered a renewed pledge—“ever more”—of the Secretariat’s loyalty to the Pontiff, so that he may “carry forward, with joy as well as with effectiveness, his ministry of unity and confirmation of faith in the universal Church.”
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Further information:
- Mosaico globale unito dall’amore e dal servizio alla Chiesa (L'Osservatore Romano)
- Pope meets with officers of Secretariat of State (CWN)
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