austraLasia
#1748
The Pope's right hand
man
Courtesy: TIME (for those who don't have time!)
By Jeff
Israely / Rome
Feb 05,
2007 -- Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone
doesn't have the guarded air of those who tend to rise to the heights of Vatican
power. He smiles easily. He laughs out loud. His oval face and dark,
bespectacled eyes show no sign of scars from the bureaucratic battles that
accompany most climbs up the Roman Curia career ladder. A few years ago, I saw
Bertone walking alone on a side street near St. Peter's and went over to say
hello and shake his hand. He stopped on a dime when he heard his name, turning
toward me with his arms spread open, and practically sang out in his baritone,
"Oooh! Carissimo! How's it going!?" And we had never even met
before.
Such gregariousness has apparently helped the
72-year-old find friends in high places. Bertone, a native of the northern
Italian region of Piedmont and a former theology professor, worked for seven
years as deputy for then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, the office that oversees church orthodoxy. Promoted in
2002 to Archbishop of Genoa, Bertone attained the rank of Cardinal the next year
and was thought to be among the core group in the conclave that pushed for
Ratzinger's election. Still, since he didn't have the usual résumé from the
Vatican diplomatic corps, many were surprised when his old boss, now Pope
Benedict XVI, tapped him to take over in September as Vatican Secretary of
State, the No. 2 slot in the entire Catholic Church hierarchy, behind only the
Pope himself.
Bertone sat down last week with TIME for a rare interview in
the sunny 15th century Vatican tower that serves as his temporary office while
the Secretary of State's quarters are being remodeled. "The Holy Father has
shown to have great trust in me," Bertone says, recalling their years at the
doctrinal office. "We were the consummate duo. We've always gotten along
personally, and there is a mutual understanding that continues to be the basis
for our work together." It's the kind of affinity--similar to what U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is said to have with President George W.
Bush--that inevitably adds extra weight to an already influential
assignment.
Although he shares the same title as the chief
U.S. diplomat, the Vatican Secretary of State is more like a Prime Minister,
responsible not only for foreign policy but also for overseeing church
headquarters at the Roman Curia, being the Vatican link to Catholic
organizations and officials around the world, and even stepping in for the Pope
if he falls ill or is unavailable. While Pope John Paul II's constant travels
kept him somewhat separated from the workings of the Vatican bureaucracy,
Benedict and Bertone are instead expected to work hand in hand on all matters,
foreign and domestic. The Pope will need his No. 2 as both a political
strategist and a sort of chief of operations, which will give Benedict the space
to pursue the intellectual and theological aspects of the job that he prefers.
Moreover, if Benedict hopes to continue streamlining the
governance of the church--which would include interrupting the ambitions of top
prelates--he will have to lean on Bertone, who handled such delicate tasks in
the past as spearheading Vatican negotiations with the ultratraditionalist
Lefebrve group. "The Pope can count on Bertone's absolute loyalty," says a
veteran Vatican diplomat. "Ideally, the Secretary of State must maintain some
autonomy while always reflecting the thoughts of the
Pope."
Both men have learned quickly that their respective
new roles go well beyond the internal discussions over church doctrine that
marked their old positions. Bertone came on the job just three days after the
Pope's controversial speech in Germany about faith and violence that angered
many Muslims. The new Secretary of State hit the ground running, orchestrating
what, by Vatican standards, was a swift response that included conciliatory
public statements, a quickly organized meeting with ambassadors from Muslim
countries and, ultimately, the success of November's trip to Turkey, where the
Pope surprised his critics with a moving prayer together with an imam in
Istanbul's Blue Mosque. "Words have great value," says Bertone. "But sometimes
gestures can have such an enormous emotional impact that words might not be able
to achieve."
Yet, not all of late has gone smoothly in Rome. The low point
was the Pope's botched appointment last month of the new Archbishop of Warsaw,
who had to immediately resign after revelations that he had been an informant
for the Polish communist regime. There are also broader complaints inside the
Curia that other appointments, and key documents, have being delayed. "We're
still waiting on important changes," says a senior Vatican official. "Benedict
is turning out to be more cautious than we had thought, and so far Bertone
hasn't managed to really get things moving."
For a poor
farmer's son to have risen to the top of the Vatican hierarchy, Bertone must
have had to develop steel under his outward affability. Vatican insiders note
that in the new job--for which part of his task is to fend off those who want to
derail the Pope's agenda--that thick skin may count more than Bertone's good
humor. A Vatican official who has worked with the Cardinal in the past says,
"I've never seen him betray his principles--but he's had to do everything just
short of it." Adds the official: "He knows how to operate within the structure
of the Holy See. He has the skills of a politician."
Still, Vatican watchers say it remains an open question if the Benedict-Bertone
team--which may have been effective in imposing orthodoxy on wayward theologians
when the pair ran the doctrinal office--has the worldly vision and institutional
muscle to impose their will on the 1.1 billion-strong universal church.
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