Two key appointments for Roman Curia

Vatican, Feb. 11 (CWNews.com)
Pope John Paul II has named new prelates to head two important Vatican offices.

The Holy Father accepted the resignations of Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo, the prefect of the Congregation for Religious; and Cardinal Jan Pieter Schotte, the secretary general of the Synod of Bishops. Both outgoing Vatican officials had reached the retirement age of 75.

The new prefect of the Congregation for Religious will be Archbishop Franc Rode, the current Archbishop of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The new secretary general of the Synod of Bishops will be Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, a Croatian cleric who is currently serving as apostolic nuncio in Ukraine.

Cardinal Somalo, who is 76, had headed the Congregation for Religious since 1992; prior to that, he had been prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship from 1988 to 1992. The Spanish cardinal was also selected by Pope John Paul II in 1993 for the post of camerlengo: the Vatican official who, in the case of the Pontiff's death, coordinates the interim administration of the Holy See and convenes a papal conclave. Cardinal Somalo will continue to hold that responsibility.

Archbishop Rode, a 69-year-old Lazarist priest, has previously served at the Vatican as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, before becoming an archbishop in his native Slovenia. As the prefect of a Vatican congregation, he would be expected to be named a cardinal at the next consistory.

Cardinal Schotte, a 75-year-old Belgian, has headed the Synod of Bishops since 1984. During that time he has been responsible for the organization of a dozen meetings of the Synod, including a series of special meetings of bishops' synods from the various continents. A priest of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, he served at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace before his latest assignment.

Archbishop Eterovic, who is 53, has been in the Vatican diplomatic service since 1980, with postings in Ivory Cost, Spain, and Nicaragua as well as a stint in the Vatican Secretariat of State. A polyglot-- he speaks Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian as well as his native Croatian-- he will now assume responsibility for the organization of the next Synod of Bishops, which will focus on the Eucharist. That meeting of the Synod, which will probably take place sometime in 2005, will be formally announced in the coming weeks. Archbishop Eterovic, too, will presumably be elevated to the College of Cardinals at the next consistory.

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For those who attended the Eucharistic Congress here in St. Louis a couple of years ago, you may remember Cardinal Schotte and his wonderful keynote address. You may also recall that he was called on at the last moment by then Archbishop Rigali to give the keynote address because Fr. Benedict Groeschel, who was to give the address, was delayed because of inclement weather. Cardinal Schotte gave an excellent imprompu talk lasting about 35-40 minutes which was interrupted several times by applause. His recollections and devotion to the our Lord and the Blessed Sacrament was truly inspiring.

I would certainly recommend listening to his address to the faithful. It was recorded and made available by St. Joseph Communications and they may still have them available. If you cannot locate a copy of the taped address and are interested in it, let me know and I'll see what can be done to get a copy to you.