Pope meets Vatican Secretariat of State

12 April, 2013 - Pope Francis on Friday met for the first time the officials and staff of two sections of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State. Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone welcomed the Pope presenting the some 300 persons as the ‘Pope’s administrative staff.’ Recalling that Saturday would be a month since his March 13 election, the Pope expressed his gratitude to the staff for the welcome and the work they do for him. After blessing them, Pope Francis took time to personally greet each member of the staff. Following the meeting, the Twitter account of the Vatican Secretariat of State @TerzaLoggia tweeted twice on Friday: “Pope Francis spends an hour in the Terza Loggia greeting the entire Secretariat of State individually;” and again, “Pope Francis to the entire staff in Secretariat of State: I’ve come here to greet and thank you one by one, for the work that you’ve done.”