Vatican City – 100 days. 00 days. That’s all it took — just under a hundred, in fact — for Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the Venezuelan Substitute for General Affairs at the Secretariat of State, to settle a few scores. In just 93 days, he managed to push through a measure stripping independence from a body Pope Francis had created solely to park Father Enzo Fortunato somewhere useful—well, “useful” to his own self-promotion.
Fortunato’s landing in the Vatican, with his obsession for camera lights, had already been chronicled by Silere non possum years ago. When Francis appointed Mauro Gambetti Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, Assisi breathed a sigh of relief, and his loyal sponsor quickly realised the new custodian would soon remove him. Before long, Gambetti began sending the Secretariat of State proposals for finding a new post for Fortunato—by then left in Assisi without a throne to occupy. But the Third Loggia repeatedly said no, giving reasons that were far from frivolous.
Of course, in the Bergoglio era, you could discuss matters endlessly and spin them in circles, but in the end only one man decided: the Pope. And so, despite embarrassing management and scandals surfacing in St. Peter’s, Gambetti went to Santa Marta and came away with a papal signature. On 19 January 2024, the bulletin read: “The Holy Father has appointed Rev. Enzo Fortunato, O.F.M. Conv., as Coordinator of the World Children’s Day and Director of Communications for St. Peter’s Basilica, formerly Director of the Press Office of the Sacred Convent in Assisi.”
That same day, Gambetti and Fortunato also secured the Pope’s signature for the Basilica communications role—a job later dropped after a series of scandals, especially the profanation of the altar and the damage to the candlesticks in St. Peter’s. The news only went public when another Fortunato-branded embarrassment emerged: the Pope’s video participation at the Sanremo Festival.
The birth of the Committee
By year’s end, however, the Committee needed money and autonomy. Fortunato and his team went to the Pope in tears. The Secretariat of State gritted its teeth but could do nothing—Francis was utterly enchanted by the silver tongue of the friar from the Amalfi Coast.
On 20 November 2024, Fortunato had Francis sign a chirograph establishing the Pontifical Committee for the World Children’s Day. The document spoke of “anchoring the initiative institutionally within the Roman Curia” and granting it public canonical juridical personality under Article 241 of Praedicate Evangelium, approving its statutes, and making it the coordinator and promoter of national and regional committees. Translation: independence and, more importantly, spending power—lots of money and lots of seats at the table.
The statutes listed: President, Vice-President, Secretary-General, Plenary Assembly, Ordinary Session, Executive Secretariat, plus members, national delegates, and “others invited by the President.” And because it was classified as an Institution Linked to the Holy See, it did not belong to the Roman Curia. That same day, the bulletin announced: “The Holy Father has appointed Rev. Enzo Fortunato, O.F.M. Conv., as President of the Pontifical Committee for the World Children’s Day.”
The game was won. Despite the Secretariat of State wanting nothing to do with Fortunato—and the nuncio Giordana returning from the Basilica with his head down after failing to sway the Third Loggia—they had managed to get to Santa Marta, where every rule was optional. The same shortcut that once opened the door for Chaouqui—and we all know how well that turned out.
The Venezuelan’s move
At the press meeting Pope Leo XIV held just hours after his election on 12 May 2025, many noticed not just the applause for Father Federico Lombardi, S.J., but also where Enzo Fortunato was seated. No longer wagging his tail in the front row near the reigning Pope, the friar was just another face in the press pack—composed, yes, but far from enthusiastic.
“The wind has changed,” an elderly cardinal whispered more than once in recent weeks at St. Peter’s. “The Franciscans are a lot less keen on promoting ‘perfect joy’ in here,” he added slyly. Leo XIV had made it clear from the start: “Popes come and go, the Curia remains.” And this first move proved it.
On 6 August 2025, at the routine audience, the Substitute for General Affairs asked the Pope to strip the Pontifical Committee of its independence and fold it into the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. Leo XIV—fully aware of what Gambetti and Fortunato had been up to—agreed “most willingly.” This will mean serious savings and tighter control over an entity that risked becoming anything but transparent—just like every venture, direct or indirect, tied to Mauro Gambetti.
d.R.S.
Silere non possum