Pope taps diplomat as new ‘prime minister’
Ahead of a major diplomatic push to prevent a U.S.-led attack on Syria, Pope Francis has named a veteran Vatican diplomat as his secretary of state, the first major appointment of his six-month-old papacy.
Francis on August 31 named Archbishop Pietro Parolin as the Vatican’s no. 2 official, a role that is often described as the Vatican’s “prime minister.”
Parolin will replace Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, a trusted aide of pope emeritus Benedict XVI, whose lack of diplomatic training had been blamed for the mismanagement and scandals that plagued the Vatican in recent years.
