Carrying On

The Roman Catholic Church is a far-flung hierarchy, ruled from the top. As Pope, John Paul II runs both Vatican and church with imperial power. But the autonomous city-state from which he governs is one of the oldest and most organized bureaucracies. If the Pope dies, administrative power goes automatically to the Vatican's Camerlengo, or Chamberlain, until a new Pope is elected. But when a Pope is sick or traveling, command goes to the Secretary of State, in this case Agostino Cardinal Casaroli, 66, the church's top diplomatic negotiator and the Pope's hand-picked and devoted No. 2 man. When John Paul fell in St. Peter's Square, Vatican housekeeping went on very much as if the Pope had just taken off on another trip.

As caretaker, Casaroli has limited but specific authority. In addition to running his own 300-man staff, which handles routine diplomatic business, he stands in for the Pope at weekly meetings of the Curia's Council of Cardinals, the Vatican's administrative leadership. He is also obliged to carry out all initiatives decided on and signed by the Pope. Among them: the long-planned creation of a pontifical council on the state of the family, and the publishing of the Pontiffs new decrees on the reform of canon law. But Cardinal Casaroli has no authority over policy on matters of faith or morals. Nor can he deal with petitions from priests requesting permission to leave the priesthood or grant any requests for marriage annulments. Perhaps more important, Casaroli cannot appoint cardinals or bishops, even though it is known that John Paul is anxious to name new bishops in order to give Africans, Asians and Latin Americans greater representation in the church.

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