MondayVatican
On July 1-4, another meeting of the Council of Cardinals appointed by Pope Francis to counsel him on the Curia reform and on the government of the universal Church will take place. It is an important meeting, since it would reportedly set for the first time the new ‘blueprint’ of the Roma [...]
It was almost taken for granted that a reform of the Roman Curia, and in particular of the Secretariat of State, was going to take place. The General Congregations (i.e. the pre-conclave meeting) seemed to believe that the bad organization of the Curia was at the root of the poor management of the [...]
Pope Francis is seemingly putting on a new hat, an institutional one. At a time when conclusions are being drawn from the reform process started under Benedict XVI and continued by his successor, Pope Francis is counterbalancing the weight of external consultants who, one way or another, have featured prominently during the first months [...]
The most recent proposal floating is that of creating a Congregation for the Laity. After all – Cardinal Oscar Andrés Maradiaga has maintained – there is a Congregation for the Clergy and one for Bishops, but there is not one for the lay people, who are the biggest part of the Church. [...]
Pietro Parolin was discharged from the hospital and should arrive in Rome after a short convalescing period at home. This is the first piece of news released about the new Secretary of State’s health. Parolin could not take part in the ceremony by which he formally assumed his new position because he needed [...]
The absence of Msgr. Pietro Parolin at the ceremony of his taking possession as Secretary of State was certainly not a good thing. Struck by gallstone (or appendicitis according to other sources), Msgr. Parolin had to undergo an urgent, albeit not grave, surgery operation. During the ceremony, Pope Francis, after thanking the outgoing Secretary [...]
Next Oct. 15 the awaited change at the top of the Vatican Secretariat of State will take place. Tarcisio Bertone will leave his post to Pietro Parolin, who had been Bertone’s number four until 2009. That year, Parolin was promoted archbishop and sent as Papal nuncio to Venezuela.
The change is awaited for two reasons.
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Pope Francis said it during the trip back from Brazil: «I feel a nostalgia for the Curia of the old days.» With every major appointment, it is becoming more clear who is that Pope Francis is referring to, when he mentions the old days’ Curia. There are no groundbreaking appointments. Pope [...]
No doubt about it: every gesture by Pope Francis is a political signal. The time when his choices could be considered those of a naïve or inexperienced Pope is over. Every decision Pope Francis makes is signaling in which direction he wants to move the Church.
The eight cardinals charged with advising the Pope [...]
When he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, almost all the priests he proposed to be appointed bishop were rejected. According to sources, almost every list of candidates that Bergoglio would propose (three names, per the Holy See’s standard practice) for an open see for bishop would be overlooked. Instead, the appointments came from the [...]
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