Pope Francis particularly loves personal contact with people. And this is not only when he is in the general audience in the square but also, in general, when he has to enter into more demanding conversations. Instead of institutional contacts, he prefers personal contacts. Instead of reports from the Secretariat of State, he likes [...]

The interview that Pope Francis granted this week to the Jesuit magazine America is a synthesis of Pope Francis’ pragmatic worldview. Indeed, the Pope is faithful to the principle that realities are greater than ideas, and he looks to the world in concrete terms, in a way that is pragmatic to the point [...]

Pope Francis’s decision to appoint a commissioner for Caritas Internationalis represents for the pontificate yet another plunge into the past. The idea of changing the Statutes of Caritas again, after ten years and a precise direction given by Benedict XVI, risks giving the impression that there is no genuine desire to reform [...]

Pope Francis’ pontificate began with intense media hype and the hope that there would be a fundamental change not so much in the Church but in the management of the Church. In question, at the time of the conclave, was not the doctrine but rather the administration, how the Church had responded to [...]

Cardinal Ricard’s admission that he abused a 14-year-old girl as a simple priest raises several questions. Why does a cardinal, now retired, suddenly make an admission of guilt so grave and so public? It is a question to ponder to understand how much the abuse issue risks taking hold of the debate on the [...]

In Bahrain, to conclude the Bahraini Forum for dialogue, Pope Francis reiterated his notion of a Church and a people which engage in dialogue and resilience and that opposes the “powerful who look after their own interests.”

The theme of the powerful and that of the elites are central themes in Pope Francis’ [...]

The working document of the European continental stage of the Synod on Synodality was presented last October 27th. It is an open document, full of stimuli and citations from the experiences of the bishops’ conferences. It is characterized by a generally upbeat tone even when it speaks of the inevitable criticalities that have [...]

Pope Francis announced that the synodal assembly on synodality will be held on two sessions, in 2023 and 2024. This allows greater discernment to mature the synodal process’ fruits. The decision came following the meeting with the General Secretariat of the Synod, which brought the results of a first summary document outlined during [...]

Perhaps it is destiny that the popes arrive at the anniversaries of the Second Vatican Council full of bitterness. Ten years ago, Benedict XVI, looking out the window of the Apostolic Palace, delivered a bitter speech, which called attention to the “bad fishes” in the Church’s net and that looked with nostalgia at [...]

Pope Francis’ choice to dedicate the words preceding the Angelus of 2 October to the situation in Ukraine is not new. The Pope did the same thing in 2013 when he was worried about the crisis in Syria. Twice, therefore, Pope Francis has eliminated the religious part, which is the commentary on the [...]