VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider
Big changes, new appointments and transferrals. A new season of challenges is about to begin, with the United States taking centre stage
Marco Tosatti
Rome
Some excellent changes are going to be taking place in the Vatican reliable voices say. And apparently, these new nominations will be further proof that Benedict XVI and his main collaborators see the United States as one of the main “fronts” of comparison in terms of secularisation and as the source of energy for the solution of problems.
The current secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Joseph William Tobin, should – as always, when speaking about decisions of this kind it is essential to use the conditional because neither Benedict XVI nor the Secretary of State appear Napoleonic in this field – return to the U.S. He will probably be sent to an important diocese; possibly Indianapolis.
Is this a promotion? Possibly, but it seems he was recalled by the U.S. Catholic Church who did not appreciate Tobin’s role in clearing up misunderstandings with the LCWR’S “rebel” nuns. American bishops did not find his conciliatory statements very helpful as they were hard at work trying to resolve a difficult problem. Indeed, they saw his attitude as a break with the position taken by the previous Prefect, Franc Rodé, who was concerned about the “new age” drift of many U.S. nuns. The identity of Tobin’s potential successor is unknown; it could be a cleric given that the Prefect of the Congregation is not.
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