Pope Francis has asked Father Fabio Salerno to become one of his personal secretaries, reported Vatican News. He is currently working in the Section for Relations with States in the Vatican Secretariat of State.

He replaces Coptic Catholic Monsignor Yoannis Lahzi Gaid, who concluded his service to the Holy Father on July 31.

Responding to questions from journalists, Matteo Bruni, Director of the Holy See Press Office, confirmed the news on Saturday. He explained that as is the case in other curial roles, so too in this case, “a normal turnover of roles”, as desired by Pope Francis, is taking place.

Bruni also said Msgr Gaid “will continue his current role as a Member of the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity”. The Committee promotes the implementation of the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together”, signed in February 2019 by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed al-Tayyeb.

Father Fabio Salerno was born in 1979 in Catanzaro in Italy and was ordained a priest in 2011 for the Archdiocese of Catanzaro-Squillace. He holds a doctorate from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.

After going through the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, he served as secretary in the Apostolic Nunciature in Indonesia and at the Holy See’s Permanent Mission to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

Father Gonzalo Aemilius, who began service as one of Pope Francis’s secretaries in January substituting Msgr Fabián Pedacchio Leániz, will introduce Father Salerno to his new role.

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