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By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
In addition, the Americans are the only national bloc other than the Italians to have at least one official working in virtually every Vatican office.
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Rome
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I lunched with a veteran Italian *vaticanista*, meaning a journalist who specializes in the Vatican, this week. At one point, more or less out of the blue, he said to me: “You know, the American imprint on this pope’s curia is impressive.”
(The Italian word he used was *impressionante*, which, if anything, is perhaps a bit stronger than “impressive,” suggesting something truly remarkable.)
He proceeded to tick off examples: Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s powerful doctrinal office; Cardinal Francis Stafford and Archbishop Raymond Burke, who head two of the three Vatican courts; and Archbishop James Harvey, still the prefect of the Papal Household. (Harvey was appointed to that position by John Paul II in 1998.)More…