Pope considering Secretariat of State overhaul

Pope Francis greets the pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on March 13, 2013, the night of his election. Credit: Mauricio Artieda/CNA.
Vatican City, Apr 8, 2013 / 09:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A top official who works at the Secretariat of State says Pope Francis is thinking about streamlining his department by combining it with another Vatican government body.

According to the source – who requested anonymity in an April 6 interview with CNA – the Pope is considering simplifying the Curia by combining a part of the Secretariat of State’s first section with the Vatican City State’s administration. The first section deals with the management of the Church around the world.

Luigi Sandri, a Church observer and historian of the Vatican Councils, remarked in an April 6 interview, “a re-thinking of the Secretariat of State would perfectly follow Pope Francis’ line of considering himself as the bishop of Rome.”