Information about Maniago’s visitation has not been made public, but Italian newspaper La Stampa wrote March 16 that it had confirmed it was taking place and seen an internal email of the congregation announcing the visitation.
According to La Stampa, the March 12 email, from Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, said: “The Holy Father has decided, before making appointments to the Congregation, that there should be a visit to the Dicastery by one of his representatives.”
The email reportedly further said that Maniago would be learning about the congregation's work and meeting with officials one-by-one.
“I have already expressed to the Holy Father our openness to this visit and our sure and sincere welcome to Msgr. Maniago,” Roche reportedly wrote. “There is nothing to be alarmed about in this. As you know, this style of visit is now becoming a regular occurrence at the end of the mandate of the heads of the Dicastery or at the time of a significant change.”
La Stampa reported that internal consultations of the sort described in Roche’s email did not take place, however, in the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples or the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, which both received new prefects in recent years.
Since Sarah’s resignation was accepted in February, the question has been who might be chosen to replace the Guinean cardinal at the head of the liturgy congregation.