Archbishop Parolin Has Pastoral Approach, Says Cardinal
The Vatican Radio
(Vatican Radio) French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran said he thinks the new Secretary of State is an excellent choice and will do “very, very well” in his new job as the Holy See’s second in command. Archbishop Pietro Parolin was to take office as the new Secretary of State Tuesday. However, Pope Francis announced, he will begin his duties officially in a few weeks, following surgery. Cardinal Tauran, currently president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, worked with Archbishop Parolin in the Secretariat of State several years ago. The archbishop was then the cardinal’s Undersecretary for Relations with States for about four years. In an interview with Vatican Radio’s Hélène Destombes, the cardinal said: “He’s an excellent priest and I think he has great international experience. And he is young, so he could accompany the Pope in the reform of the Curia.” Cardinal Tauran described the new secretary of state as “very efficient”, “a good negotiator” ,“very balanced” and “very realistic”. When asked if the archbishop’s appointment could be seen as a break with the “era of Cardinal Bertone”, the cardinal said the new 58-year-old Secretary of State represents “a different style, another generation and different experience”. The cardinal also commented on Archbishop Parolin’s pastoral approach: “Diplomacy is at the service of pastoral work, and I think that this is something that Archbishop Parolin understood well and which he lives.” Cardinal Tauran said he “always appreciated (the archbishop’s) discretion, his great capacity for work.” The cardinal said he believes the new Secretary of State and the Pope have complementary personalities and will work well together. “I think so because they are two men who are very calm, who have an interior life, who do not allow themselves to be impressed by events,” he said. “Their temperaments go very well together, and I wish Archbishop Parolin much success in his new functions.” DIPLOMATIC SERVICE Archbishop Parolin was born in Vicenza, Italy, and was ordained a priest in 1980. He has served in the diplomatic corps for the past 20 years, serving in the nunciatures of Nigeria and Mexico. In his diplomatic career, he was also involved in some delicate files, including reopening the dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians, relations between the Vatican and Vietnam, and Benedict XVI’s letter to Chinese Catholics. He was the apostolic nuncio in Venezuela, when Pope Francis announced his appointment as Secretary of State on August 31.
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