Pope sacks Bertone, Cardinal Tauran new Camerlengo

AGI
December 20, 2014

http://www.agi.it/en/flash-news/articles/pope_sacks_bertone_cardinal_tauran_new_camerlengo-201412202057-cro-inw0002

(AGI) Vatican City, Dec. 20 - Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone is no longer Camerlengo of the Holy Church of Rome. Pope Francis has replaced him with Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran, the memorable Foreign Minister of Pope John Paul II and currently president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Bertoni turned 80 last Dec. 2 and therefore could not eventually participate in a Conclave. As Protodeacon, Cardinal Tauran announced the election of Pope Francis on March 13, 2013.
  During the last few month, he closely collaborated with the Pontiff, especially in cleaning up the Vatican's financial sector and the IOR Vatican bank in particular. Born in Bordeaux, Cardinal Tauran is now 71 years old. He was conscientious objector, refusing to serve in the army and, before entering the seminary, he did civil service as voluntary aid worker and taught in a Catholic school in Lebanon. Ordained in 1969, Tauran worked as a curate in the Archdiocese of Bordeaux while he studied Canon Law at the Catholic University of Toulouse. After he moved to Rome in 1973, he studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, where the Holy See's diplomats are trained, and at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he graduated in Canon Law. He took office in the Vatican's diplomatic service in 1975. He was secretary of the nunciature to the Dominican Republic from 1975 to 1979, and was later transferred to the Apostolic Nunciature of Lebanon, where he remained till 1983, when he was called to join the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church. From 1990 to 2003 he was Secretary for Relations with States. During these 13 years, Cardinal Tauran went on several missions abroad and led the Vatican delegation in numerous international conferences.
  He was created Cardinal-Deacon by Pope John Paul in the consistory of 21 October 2003 and was concomitantly named Archivist and Librarian of the Holy Roman Church. Pope Benedict XVI later appointed him president of the of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in June 2007. Affected with Parkinson's disease, he is widely admired for the heroic attitude with which he continues his apostolic activities despite his obvious difficulties, just like John Paul II. THE CAMERLENGO IS THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE CHURCH'S PROPERTY AND GOVERNS THE CHURCH DURING THE 'SEDE VACANTE' The Camerlengo is the administrator of the property and revenues of the Holy See during the Sede Vacante or during the absence of the Pope, but he must do so in a way as to preserve the property, without taking extraordinary initiatives. If the Pope dies, he has the task of certifying the death and informing the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, who is entrusted with the task of revealing the news to the people. The Camerlengo takes possession of the Ring of the Fisherman and cuts it and all other papal seals with shears. He then seals off the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, in the Lateran Palace and in Castelgandolfo. This marks the beginning of the Sede Vacante, when the Camerlengo starts preparing the funeral and the subsequent nine days of mourning, or 'novendialis'. He then starts preparing the Conclave to elect a new Pope through the General Congregations, which are chaired by the Cardinal-Deacon: 87-year-old Angelo Sodano who was appointed to this office in 2005. During the Sede Vacante, the coat of arms of the Camerlengo, although it is stil made up of 30 red ribbons like all cardinals, it is topped with the banner of the Pope with two crossed keys surmounted by the papal tiara.
  During this period, the Camerlengo can also mint new coins that, even if they have legal tender, will never be put in circulation as they are exclusively intended for collectors.
  The coins portray his coat of arms, with the saying 'Sede Vacante' and the year of issue or the fineness of the precious metal, expressed as one thousand part. (AGI) . .