The story of the Vatican decoration given to Mrs. Ploumen, a pro-abortion activist and former member of the Dutch government, sparked many controversies.

Mrs. Ploumen was part of the delegation that accompanied the Dutch Royal Family in their visit to the Vatican last June 22. It was an audience, although of the [...]

Pope Francis addressed his first speech of the year to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, following a consolidated tradition. The Pope’s speech was particularly important. It did not merely consisted of a wide and detailed overview of the Holy See’s diplomatic work. The speech identified also some critical points. [...]

The theme of the World Day for Social Communication 2018 is “The truth will set you free (Jn 8:32): Fake news and journalism for peace.” It is a crucial topic as the great reform of Vatican communications is to take final shape. Above all, it is a crucial theme for the upcoming year, [...]

Pope Francis ended 2017 with a Christmas address to the Curia composed of two parts. The first part included a sort of attack against those who exploited of the trust of Mother Church. The second part was concentrated on the “ad extra” work of the Roman Curia, with particular focus on [...]

The news that Fr. Piero Gheddo passed away broke a few days before Christmas, and made Christmas time sadder. Fr. Gheddo was not only the tireless missionary who went to every corner of the world, following God’s design that he learned to recognize from his soon-to-be beatified parents. He was also a missionary [...]

Pope Francis’s meeting with the Forum of Catholic NGO’s marked once again the extraordinary activity of the Secretariat of State, at least in the diplomatic field.

The Catholic NGO’s Forum was established back in 2007. Its goal was to give shape and coordination to the NGO’s with two common characters: that of [...]

With the appointments of the new archbishops of Paris and Mexico City, Pope Francis has once more shown his ecclesial “realpolitik”. In general, he prefers to choose bishops with a pastoral profile, not cultural warriors. However, these two latest choices show contrasting signals.

Michel Aupetit, the new Archbishop of Paris, replaces [...]

During his trip last week to Myanmar and Bangladesh, Pope Francis never used the word “Rohingya,” with the only exception of the private meeting he had with a group of them in Bangladesh. Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, the Archbishop of Yangon, suggested to him not to use the term for a [...]

The establishment of a Third Section in the Vatican Secretariat of State has shed light on three themes of Pope Francis’s pontificate. The first: the fact that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, has gradually achieved an ever more central role. The second: that Pope Francis keeps on making reforms and [...]

How should we interpret Pope Francis’s moves? Guzman Carriquiry, Pope Francis’s long term friend who has worked for the Holy See since Blessed Paul VI’s time, speaking during the presentation of his latest book, “Memory, Courage and Hope. In Light of the Bicentennial of Latin America,” described Pope Francis this way: “Priest, and [...]