Motu propri are documents that arise from the will of the Pope. They do not come from consultations with the Curia. They may not come from a suggestion but simply from the will of the Pope. Unlike the rescripta ex audientia santissimi, they have a more normative formulation and must be made public. The [...]

The anniversary of Benedict XVI’s historic resignation was overshadowed by accusations of not having handled well the cases of abuse in the archdiocese of Munich and Freising, of which he had been archbishop from 1977 to 1983. And so, Benedict XVI, after having already given an 82-page answer with the assistance of some lawyers, [...]

It is no mystery that one thinks of the succession of a pope when the Pope is still in office. And it is not even a mystery that, after the operation of 4 July, talk on a possible succession of Pope Francis has become more frequent. Pope Francis did not appreciate it. Returning [...]

What is taking place these days around the Order of Malta is not just a power struggle, nor does it concern only the issue of the Order of Malta’s sovereignty being at risk. The situation also says a lot about how Pope Francis conceives his power, the way he views the Holy See, and [...]

In 2013, shortly after the election of Pope Francis, the veteran Vatican watcher John Allen went to Argentina to learn more about the history and life of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio and to sketch his personality profile. From his research, some ambiguous situations emerged on the response by Bergoglio on two cases of [...]

As rumors about the next consistory, the reform of the Curia, and the new appointments to the Vatican spread, Pope Francis has simply slowed down the reform process, leaving everything to be determined. The latest move was to appoint Archbishop Giacomo Morandi, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, [...]

An old juridical principle is that “Prima sede a nemine iudicatur,” i.e., the head seat cannot be prosecuted by anyone. And it is the principle that the Vatican prosecutors seem to invoke when, in the interrogation of Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, whose audio was leaked, they say that no, Monsignor Perlasca would not want [...]

2021 did not end, as many expected, with the reform of the Curia. 2022, on the other hand, could begin with the announcement of a new consistory, which was expected to take place in November and which should instead take place in February.

Pope Francis’ 2021 was the year of the change of [...]

There were no surprise announcements in Pope Francis’ Christmas greetings speech to the Curia. No mention of the reform of the Curia. No mention of what was done. However, on the same day, Pope Francis formally dismissed Cardinal Peter Turkson from his role as Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, [...]

There is an interesting detail in the press release that followed the last Council of Cardinals, held in the Vatican on December 13, 14, and 15. For the first time, the text of the release does not refer to the Praedicate Evangelium, the text of the reform of the Curia, which has been [...]