At the time of the Iron Curtain, it was said that the Ostpolitik designed by Casaroli confined the Church to compromise with her historical enemies. It is an accusation that has also been levied against the diplomatic activity of Pope Francis, which on several occasions has been compared to Ostpolitik.

Pope Francis [...]

There were no decisions at the end of the consistory convened by Pope Francis and held August 29 and 30. There should have been talk about the reform of the Curia, and it was thought that the Pope would at least communicate how the gaps left in the Curia should be filled. At [...]

The Curia reform wanted by Pope Francis, but above all, the philosophy behind it, probably brought a consequence that was not foreseen. Starting from the principles identifiable in the Praedicate Evangelium, the whole Second Vatican Council can be questioned. This is paradoxical, since Pope Francis wants to be the Pope who puts the [...]

At the time of this writing, we do not know if the speculations on the possible grand gesture of Pope Francis in L’Aquila will become a reality. It is said that Pope Francis will renounce the pontificate. He will present a reform of the vacant see that will somehow allow him to influence his [...]

As far as we know, there will be no speeches, planned interventions, or reports in the extraordinary Consistory that Pope Francis has convened for 29 and 30 August. Instead, there will be a report by Bishop Marco Mellino, secretary of the Council of Cardinals, already submitted. It is the text based on a conference [...]

The appointment of Antonio Staglianò, bishop emeritus of Noto, as president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology reveals how Pope Francis wants his theologians to be, and how the Pope himself sees the development of theology.

Pope Francis indeed likes to quote St. Vincent of Lerins and how he defines the development of [...]

The conversations of Pope Francis with the Jesuits have the privilege of being free conversations, without filters, from which Pope Francis’ authentic way of thinking
often comes out. The conversation with the Jesuits of Canada, published, as usual, in La Civiltà Cattolica, was no exception.

There are no striking revelations in the [...]

Pope Francis’ trip to Canada is difficult to categorize. On the one hand, Pope Francis went to ask for forgiveness for an alleged collaboration of Catholics in managing residential schools, or those state schools that, between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, took over the education of indigenous children, separating them from their families—causing them [...]

The great Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, who passed away in 2017, coined the expression “liquid society” to describe today’s society. That is to say, a society in which everything is relativized, in which every point of view is valid and relative, and in which one does not proceed according to one’s convictions but is [...]

There is an essay by the cardinal-elect Gianfranco Ghirlanda that dates back to 2013 and may reveal the path Pope Francis intends to take with the reforms. The paper was published in La Civiltà Cattolica just after the resignation of Benedict XVI on March 2, 2013, and concerns the procedures of the Church [...]