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 [...]

There’s plenty of grist for the mill in the excerpts of Pope Francis’s autobiography, published last week in Italy’s Corriere della sera. One thing, however, is particularly striking: Pope Francis feels hurt by the claim that “Francis is destroying the Papacy.”

The Pope’s response was this: “My vocation is the priestly one: first of [...]

That the trial on the management of the Secretariat of State’s funds would lead to consequences and difficulties for the Holy See was understandable from the moment the Vatican Tribunal issued the sentence. The court itself presented inconsistent choices and a line of judgment that seemed to vary depending on the situations. Only the [...]

Perhaps the biggest problem with the profile of the next Pope provided by Demos II is that it seems to be part of a disembodied world. Just as Pope Francis is elusive in his decisions, Demos becomes less concrete when he – and the debate he is trying to steer – should be concrete.

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This week, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Francis Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops, and Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, sent a letter to the German Synodal Path with the request not to vote on the establishment of a Management [...]

Once upon a time, there were three Popes. One was the White Pope, the Pontifex Maximus, the head of the Catholic Church and the Vicar of Christ above all. Then there was the Black Pope, the General of the Jesuits, who had among other things a special vow of obedience to the Pope. Finally, [...]

In yet another editorial effort of recent times, Pope Francis had a conversation with ABC’s Vatican correspondent Javier Martinez Brocal to share his memories with Benedict XVI. The book is called El Sucesor. Mi recuerdos con Benedicto XVI, and the announcement of its publication came a few days before February 11, the day on [...]

Speaking with La Stampa newspaper last January 29, Pope Francis returned to the Conclave that elected him Pope. He recounted some known information, such as the applause for him after his speech about the “outgoing” Church. He defined that applause as “unprecedented” and said, “That speech was my condemnation.” And then he commented: [...]

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was in the past called La Suprema – “The Supreme [Congregation]” — and the pope himself was its prefect. Over time, the Secretariat of State surpassed and eclipsed the CDF. Paul VI made the Secretariat of State the coordination center of the entire Roman Curia.

Then [...]

Over the last week, Pope Francis has enacted three more reform laws, each by papal fiat. In the technical jargon of Church government, these acts are called litterae apostolicae motu proprio datae – Apostolic Letters given of [the Legislator’s] own accord – or motu proprio for short. They add to the collection of over [...]