Angelo Sodano - Secretary of State

Secretary of State

On 10 January 1994, Pope John Paul II named Sodano Cardinal Bishop of the suburbicarian see of Albano, and on 30 November 2002, exactly twenty-five years after he was first appointed a bishop, he was elected vice-dean of the College of Cardinals in succession to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Dean. On Ratzinger's election as Pope in the 2005 conclave, it fell to Sodano to perform the functions allotted to the Dean at the end of the conclave (asking the pope-elect if he accepted the election, and then asking what name the new pope wanted to use) and at Benedict XVI's Papal Inauguration. On 30 April Benedict formally ratified Sodano's election to the position by the suburbicarian Cardinal Bishops. Accordingly the title of the suburbicarian see of Ostia, proper of the dean, was added to the title of the see of Albano.

Due to the deteriorating health of John Paul II, it was Cardinal Sodano, as Secretary of State, who was the principal celebrant at the funeral Masses for Cardinal John O'Connor and Mother Teresa. When in 2002 Sodano turned 75, John Paul specifically invited him to stay on as Secretary of State, though this is the customary retirement age for heads of major Vatican departments. (There is no retirement age for the Deanship or Vice-Deanship.)

When Pope John Paul II died on 2 April 2005, Sodano, who participated in the 2005 papal conclave, was not generally seen as one of the papabili, the cardinals likely to become the next pope. This was largely due to his advanced age, although he is seven months younger than the cardinal who was eventually elected, Pope Benedict XVI, and his lack of experience outside the Roman Curia.

Sodano's position as Secretary of State expired upon the death of John Paul II. But Benedict XVI reappointed him to the position on 21 April 2005, in spite of being past the customary retirement age.

On 22 June 2006, Benedict XVI appointed Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to replace Sodano as the Secretary of State. Bertone assumed the new office on 15 September 2006.

Sodano turned 80 on 23 November 2007, and is ineligible to participate in any future conclaves, though he remains Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals.

In a Saturday, 1 September 2012 news release online in the daily Holy See Press Office Vatican Information Service (VIS) news bulletin, it was stated that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed Cardinal Sodano as the Legate for the consecration of the Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Karaganda in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, scheduled for Sunday, 9 September 2012. He will be accompanied by an entourage.

On Tuesday, 18 September 2012, Cardinal Sodano was named by Pope Benedict XVI as one of the Synod Fathers of the 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Catholic Synod of Bishops.