VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider
The Bishop of Phoenix, Olmsted, will soon be officially announced as the new Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life
Marco Tosatti
Rome
The official announcement of the appointment of the Bishop of Phoenix (Arizona) Thomas J. Olmsted, as Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life is expected any day now. Olmsted should replace fellow American, Tobin, who occupied this delicate position for a very short period. Tobin heads the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Olmsted’s approach in the Congregation is expected to be far closer to the sensibilities of American bishops with regard to issue of the LCWR (Leadership Conference of Women Religious)’s rebellious stance towards Catholic bishops and the Holy See. The number of nuns in the United States dropped by over two thousand members in just one year, from 57.113 to 55.045.
Olmsted’s arrival will further strengthen the U.S.’s growing influence within the Catholic Church’s central government, the Assessor to the Secretariat of State, Peter Brian Wells, being the U.S.’ foremost point of reference.
This had been James Harvey’s role up until about a week ago when he was still Prefect of the Papal Household. Harvey was recently created cardinal and appointed archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. So a promotion and the biretta. But this removal from the Apostolic Palace may have been directly or indirectly linked to the case involving the Pope’s disloyal former butler.
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