PopeWatch: Yoannis Lahzi Gaid

24 April AD 2014
Donald R. McClarey

The appointment of Father Yoannis Lahzi Gaid as a personal secretary is an intriguing appointment by the Pope. Sandro Magister at his blog Chiesa gives us the details:

Pope Francis has a new personal secretary. His name is Yoannis Lahzi Gaid. He is an Egyptian priest of the Coptic rite and a member of the Vatican diplomatic service. A figure with an unusual résumé. The author, in the past, of statements very critical in regard to Islam.

Gaid is taking the place of the Maltese Alfred Xuereb, whom the pontiff inherited a year ago from Benedict XVI and has now destined for the position of prelate secretary of the newly created secretariat for the economy. He is joining the pope’s other personal secretary, the Argentine Fabián Pedacchio Leániz, who is also staying in his role as an official of the congregation for bishops.

The selection of Gaid, as of personal secretaries in general, is not a formal appointment and so was not made public in an official manner. The news was broken by the website Vatican Insider last week.

Born in 1975, Gaid attended the pontifical ecclesiastical academy and in 2007 entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Initially destined for the nunciature of Brazzaville in Congo, he remained there for three years. In March of 2010 he was transferred to that of Iraq and Jordan. But his stay there was very brief. In July of 2011, in fact, he was destined for the pontifical nunciature of New Delhi, but before the transfer to India could take place he was kept back in the first section of the secretariat of state, in an office of slight importance, that of honorary awards, usually reserved for non-diplomatic personnel.

But Francis has been able to appreciate him both as his fellow neighbor at the residence of Santa Marta and as an interpreter during meetings with Arabic speakers. Gaid is also the prelate who gives the greetings in the language of the Quran during the Wednesday general audiences.

The admirers of the pope’s new secretary have included his fellow Egyptian Magdi Cristiano Allam, a Muslim journalist and writer who converted to Christianity and was baptized in Saint Peter’s by Benedict XVI on March 22, 2008. For some time has been very critical of a Church that in his view is too yielding toward Islam.

Go here to read the rest. When it comes to Islam the policy of the Church since Vatican II has largely been a combination of wishful thinking, distortion of what is taught by Islam and, frankly, fear. Pope Francis now has a personal secretary who can give him an unvarnished view of Islam, which is at least a baby step in the right direction.

Donald R. McClarey

Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.

0 0 votes

Article Rating

3 Comments

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

TomD

Thursday, April 24, AD 2014 1:50pm

The history of the Churches in the Mideast under Islam show that there are many Christians who intellectually conform to the demands of their overlords. Among the laity a prime example is Sirhan Bishara Sirhan. Among the clergy are some who issue much of the same apologies for Islam that Westerners make from a distance, and even some who engage in a me-too anti-Semitism.
–
It would appear that Fr Yoannis Lahzi Gaid is of a different cloth. Thank God!

TomD

Thursday, April 24, AD 2014 1:54pm

We can speculate that perhaps the biggest impact of the appointment of Fr. Yoannis Lahzi Gaid (and of the election of Pope Francis himself, the first bi-ritual Pope in a quarter-millennium) will be the repeal of Cum data fuerit. We may soon see the regular – as opposed to exceptional – ordination of married men to the Eastern Catholic priesthood in the Anglosphere.

Penguins Fan

Thursday, April 24, AD 2014 6:28pm

In Canada, if I understand correctly, the Ukrainian Catholic Church ordains married men to their priesthood.

Bishop Botean of the Romanian Catholic Eparchy of Canton, Ohio ordained married men to the priesthood not long ago.

The Maronite Church ordained a married man to the priesthood in St. Louis recently.

PopeWatch: Yoannis Lahzi Gaid

Donald R. McClarey

The American Catholic is a Little Vatican Apostolate