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YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS: Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Pietro Parolin to succeed Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone as the Holy See's secretary of state, as reports Armenpress referring to CNN, the Vatican said Saturday.
Until now, Parolin, a 58-year-old Italian, was the diplomatic representative of the Holy See in Venezuela. He has also worked in Nigeria and Mexico.
The secretary of state assumes the role of the Vatican's head of government and is considered the most important figure in the Vatican after the pope.
"I feel very strongly the grace of this call, which is yet another and the latest of God's surprises in my life," Parolin said in a statement quoted by Vatican Radio.
"Above all, I feel the full weight of the responsibility placed upon me: this call entrusts to me a difficult and challenging mission, before which my powers are weak and my abilities poor."
Since his election to the papacy in March, Francis has taken a number of steps to try to reform the Curia, the Vatican administration.
In July, he set up an expert committee to recommend reforms to the economic and administrative structures of the Holy See. He's also ordered more scrutiny of the Vatican bank, which has been plagued by financial scandals for years.