VATICAN CITY
Crux
By John L. Allen Jr.
Editor May 3, 2016
For the last decade, there was a clear, slam-dunk answer to the question, “Who’s the most important American in the Vatican?” Everyone knew it was Peter Wells, an official of the Secretariat of State who was recently appointed the pope’s new ambassador to South Africa and made an archbishop.
There were other influential Americans over that span, including Cardinal William Levada, who headed the all-important Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Benedict XVI. Yet because of his smarts and his prodigious work ethic, Wells was the obligatory point of contact for any American who needed something in Rome.
With his departure, however, the question of who the new “go-to guy” is for Americans has become much harder to answer.
One could begin with the three American cardinals who currently hold positions in Rome:
* Cardinal James Harvey, Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
* Cardinal Raymond Burke, Patron of the Order of Malta.
* Cardinal Edwin O’Brien, Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Meaning no disrespect, however, no one could confuse those posts with ones where real Vatican policy is set or political muscle is wielded.
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