News In Brief

Pope names overseer for Vatican affairs

Agostino Cardinal Casaroli, the Vatican's secretary of state, has been given ''a high and special mandate'' by Pope John Paul II to oversee the internal affairs of Vatican City, a special papal document issued Monday said. Cardinal Casaroli will now more closely oversee the day-to-day affairs of Vatican City, which has had annual budget deficits of about $30 million recently.

The mandate also means the cardinal can exercise more control over the Vatican Bank, which Italian authorities have said was partly responsible for the collapse of the Banco Ambrosiano in 1982. The Vatican has denied responsibility.

Informed church sources said the new position would diminish the role of American Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, president of the Vatican bank and pro-president, or governor, of the Vatican City state.