Vatican City, Sep 14, 2009 / 09:20 am
A rare event took place at St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday when Pope Benedict XVI consecrated five priests as bishops who had served in the Vatican's government.
Three of the newly consecrated bishops will be serving as diplomats for the Church, one will continue to work in the Roman Curia and one will take up service as a diocesan bishop. The prelates had worked in the Secretariat of State, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Governorate of Vatican City State.
The new papal nuncios are: Archbishops Gabriele Giordano Caccia, nuncio to Lebanon; Franco Coppola, nuncio to Burundi; and Pietro Parolin, nuncio to Venezuela. Bishop Raffaello Martinelli will be the shepherd of the suburbicarian see of Frascati and Bishop Giorgio Corbellini will head the Labor Office of the Apostolic See (ULSA).
In his homily Benedict XVI recalled how "service and the giving of self" represent "the most profound nucleus of the mission of Jesus Christ and, at the same time, the true essence of His priesthood."