Pope’s secretary of state has Covid with mild symptoms

Shutterstock | Pasquale Senatore

Cardinal Parolin, age 67, has mild symptoms and is avoiding contact; Bishop Peña, substitute of the secretariat, is also positive

Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin has tested positive for Covid-19, the Vatican press office reported January 18, 2022.

The 67-year-old Italian cardinal has “mild symptoms,” the report says.

The sostituto for the Secretariat of State, Bishop Edgar Peña Parra, 61, is also positive for Covid-19 but has no symptoms.

The two men, both vaccinated, are currently isolated at home.

The Cardinal Secretary of State is the Pope’s No. 2; the secretariat oversees all the political and diplomatic functions of the Holy See.

The Secretariat is divided into three sections, the Section for General Affairs (headed by Bishop Peña), the Section for Relations with States, and, since 2017, the Section for Diplomatic Staff.

So far in 2022, Cardinal Parolin is the second cardinal to contract Covid. American Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, DC, also tested positive.

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