Two events last week were particularly significant. One was the international conference on the hundredth anniversary of the Chinese Council, with the presence of the bishop of Shanghai, Shen Bin, unilaterally appointed by the Chinese government and only later recognized by Pope Francis. The other was Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez’s trip to Cairo, [...]

That papal diplomacy under Pope Francis has two speeds became evident once more when news broke of the arrival of the bishop of Shanghai, Joseph Shen Bin, in Rome. The bishop is in town to participate in an event to mark the hundredth anniversary of the Plenary Council of Chinese Catholics in Shanghai in [...]

For the solemnity of Corpus Domini, the Pope used to go to his cathedral archbasilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. He celebrated Mass and then accompanied the Blessed Sacrament in an evocative procession that moved from the cathedral to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. Pope Francis did this in the first years [...]

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, presented a book by Vatican expert Ignazio Ingrao on the “Five questions that agitate the Church” on April 24th. In his speech, he outlined Pope Francis’s reform efforts as a path that cannot be reversed, for which there should be a commensurate pastoral response everywhere, and ultimately [...]

The big news at the end of last week was that Pope Francis will be participating in the G7 meeting scheduled for mid-June of this year, in the Italian region of Puglia, specifically to speak on Artificial Intelligence. The Pope will join a session for invited countries, not being the Vatican a part of [...]

Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, suspect-turned-star-witness for the prosecution in the recent “Sloane Ave” financial maxi-trial at the Vatican, is once again an adjunct promotor of Justice (i.e. prosecutor) of the Apostolic Signatura. The Vatican has yet to confirm the news, which first appeared as an indiscretion on the Italian gossip site, Dagospia. Reporters have confirmed [...]

Pope Francis has often warned against ”indietrism” in this last period of his pontificate. It is an unwieldy term in English, but there’s nothing arcane about it. The word comes from the Italian, indietro – “backward” – and could be rendered “backwardism” without too much trouble.

He has repeatedly warned that attending to the [...]

Is Pope Francis getting ready to pass the torch? Pope Francis still has several irons on the fire, and he is adding more. He’s making plans at a rate that strongly suggests the end of his turn is not within his own sight. He is also taking time to give his own view of [...]

Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Coena Domini on Holy Thursday in the women’s sector of the Rebibbia prison. It was a Mass of a certain solemnity, testifying to a fact that should not be underestimated: Pope Francis gives much importance to solemnity of liturgical form when he is with the marginalized, the poor, and [...]

Pope Francis’ decision to establish ten working groups whose task goes beyond the Synod is worth considering. The individual groups are interesting when considered in terms of their subject-matter, both for what they include and for what they don’t. The players are also interesting to consider. Who gets a seat at one of the [...]