An intriguing new twist in the Gambetti story!
The Pillar is reporting rumours circulating in Rome that several people sounded out for senior positions under Pope Leo have actually declined them, including, apparently, a leading candidate to succeed Cardinal Gambetti at St Peter’s. That assertion deserves to be treated with a degree of caution & The Pillar itself acknowledges that the names, reasons and reliability of these rumours vary. But Ed Condon makes a much more important observation. Leo has several senior Vatican officials whose terms have expired or who are already beyond the normal retirement age. Cardinal Kevin Farrell is 77. Cardinal Marcello Semeraro is 78.
Yet the Pope chose to move Gambetti, aged just 60, out of St Peter’s before having his replacement ready. That makes it increasingly difficult to dismiss this as routine rotation. Indeed, The Pillar puts the point rather starkly: whatever is happening behind the scenes, removing Gambetti appears to have been sufficiently important that leaving his position temporarily vacant was preferable to leaving him in it.
There may be another piece of the puzzle too. Andrea Gagliarducci reports that Leo has called an unusual meeting with the Chapter and Fabric of St Peter’s for 30 November, and suggests that the Pope wants the Basilica’s finances and governance reviewed before appointing Gambetti’s successor. If so, perhaps we are asking the wrong question. Instead of “Who will replace Gambetti?”, perhaps the more interesting question is: what exactly does Leo intend to change at St Peter’s before he chooses the man who will implement it?
The rumours remain rumours. Sanguineti and Guido Marini have both been mentioned, and perhaps somebody else entirely will emerge. But one fact is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Pope Leo did not wait until he had Gambetti’s successor before moving him.
For whatever reason, ending the Gambetti era at St Peter’s appears to have come first.
Source: Mark Lambert @sitsio
Background to the story in The Pillar: https://x.com/sitsio/status/2107465075766206592?s=46&t=IydJ-X8H6c0NM044nYKQ0w
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