New Pope Reappoints Curia Chiefs

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the highest-ranking official after the pope, kept his job as secretary of state, although he is two years past the retirement age for curial officials. The 77-year-old Italian has held the post since 1990.

His two immediate subordinates, Undersecretary Leonardo Sandri of Argentina and Foreign Minister Giovanni Lajolo of Italy, were also asked to stay on "until otherwise provided for." So were prelates in charge of the other nine congregations, 11 councils, three tribunals and seven commissions that govern the 1-billion-member Roman Catholic Church.

Senior deputies in those agencies will be allowed to serve out five-year terms begun under Pope John Paul II, the Vatican announced.

The decision, two days after his election, was in keeping with Benedict's emphasis on continuity with John Paul. But Vatican specialists said the German pontiff could prove to be a different kind of manager once he settles into the job and starts an expected housecleaning.

When a pope dies, all heads of the agencies that make up the church's central administration are required to resign. Each office is run by a caretaker deputy until a new pope appoints his own prefects, presidents and judges.

Thursday's announcement allowed the Vatican to resume normal operations for the first time since John Paul's death April 2, as it geared up for Benedict's formal installation Sunday.

The new papacy officially began Tuesday when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger accepted the job and took the name Benedict. On Wednesday, he gave the equivalent of a state of the union speech, using conciliatory language to reassure critics of his archconservative record that his reign would not further divide the church or alienate people of other faiths.

Imitating John Paul, Benedict intends to underscore that message with highly visible words and gestures, at least in the coming days. He plans to meet with journalists Saturday, and his installation Mass on Sunday will be in St. Peter's Square, rather than inside St. Peter's Basilica. On Monday, he is to visit a church built over the tomb of St. Paul, an apostle revered by Orthodox Christians as well as Roman Catholics.