ROME – In yet another shakeup of a department in the Roman Curia, the Vatican announced Monday that a high-ranking official in the Holy See’s doctrinal congregation is on his way out and will now lead an Italian diocese.

In a Jan. 10 Vatican statement, it was announced that Archbishop Giacomo Morandi, until now secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), is leaving his Vatican post and will take over as the new leader of the Italian Diocese of Reggio Emilia-Guastalla.

Morandi, 56, who was named secretary of the CDF in 2017, will replace outgoing Reggio Emilia Bishop Massimo Camisasca, who is 75, the mandated retirement age for bishops.

His exit marks the latest shakeup in the Roman Curia in recent months.

Throughout the spring and summer last year, Pope Francis held apostolic visitations of several curial departments, including the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Congregation for Clergy, and the Dicastery for Integral Human Development.

After each of the visitations, a new prefect was named for the department that had just undergone it.

In the case of the department for liturgy, the visitation took place in March 2021 after the retirement of its previous prefect, Guinian Cardinal Robert Sarah, and before the appointment of his successor. The visitation for the clergy department took place in June 2021, shortly before the retirement of Cardinal Beniamino Stella, who turned 80 in August 2021.

The visitation of the Vatican’s department for Integral Human Development also took place over the summer, yet the resignation of its prefect, Ghanian Cardinal Peter Turkson, last month came as a surprise to many, given that Turkson had long been considered a key papal ally and that he is only 73.

Turkson said he and other department leaders submitted their resignations because their 5-year terms had come to an end, however, many observers believe the real reason behind the exit of the department’s leadership was related to internal tensions and administrative wrinkles that had yet to be ironed out after four Vatican offices merged to form the mega-department in 2016.

No reasons were cited for Morandi’s exit from the Vatican; however, some observers believe it could be related to disagreement with Pope Francis’s decision to issue a decree last year restricting access to the Latin Mass.

No successor has yet been named for Morandi, but he could be replaced by Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna, who has served as an adjunct secretary to the CDF since 2018.

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