” “A “torch that a capable and fertile appointment as the main collaborator of the Holy See has kept burning through the generations at the service of the Church and the world”. With these words, in a message to Pope Benedict XVI, card. Tarcisio Bertone, from today the secretary of state of the Vatican, defines the office, which he has been called to take. As a token of continuity, Bertone brings with himself “the cross of card. Agostino Casaroli”. Aware of the “heavy responsibility” that directing the Secretariat of State involves, day by day, the cardinal only hopes to accomplish his Episcopal motto: “Fidem custodire, concordiam servare”, supported by the belief that he will have “the opportunity to help, in a very special way, to make such an ideal come true”. The new secretary, in his greeting, also mentions the “wise and unique guidance of the Holy Father” as a reason for “great encouragement” as well as the “irreplaceable, often hidden, work that all the staff of the Secretariat of State and the Papal delegations carry out every day with a spirit of sincere and commendable self-denial”. Finally, a thought for the “contemplative monasteries”, to many of which he has personally written, “asking them for the permanent help of their interceding prayer”.
