The next meeting of the Vatican chiefs of dicasteries, scheduled for around the end of this month, will provide an overview of the streamlining of the Curia project. The Council of Cardinals, which next meeting is scheduled for December 9 to 11, wants to put into effect the first concrete change, in order [...]
There is a Council in the Pope’s mind. Not the Third Vatican Council, wished by many, especially within progressive circles. Rather, it is the Second Vatican Council, as it seems that Pope Francis is pursuing the spirit of the Council. The same spirit that 50 years ago had put the Church in a [...]
The visit Pope Francis wanted to privately pay to the Evangelical Pastor Giovanni Traettino in Caserta (Southern Italy) is not simply a visit the Pope is paying to a friend. Pope Francis wanted this visit to be private and unique and – as the news of his arrival in Caserta spread – he [...]
Paul VI will be beatified Oct. 19 at the end of the extraordinary synod on the family, being the synod a body the late Pope wanted and promoted. A Paul VI that is to be proclaimed saint, probably as soon as 2015, through an accelerated process pursuant to Pope Francis’ wishes. Pope Montini is [...]
Cardinal Walter Kasper has called for a «Council-like solution» to the issue in his presentation during the consistory on the family. This «Council-like solution» is a reference to the approach taken by the Second Vatican Council to issues like religious freedom and ecumenism. i.e., not to change the tradition, but to create new openings. [...]
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 Roman Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls has been entrusted to Benedictines for 1300 years. There was such a strong tradition of ecumenical dialogue there, that Benedict XVI ultimately decided to give the basilica a specific mandate to promote ecumenism. Popes have been concluding the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity [...]
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 confirmation of Gehrard Ludwig Mueller as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith can lead to the conclusion that Pope Francis is following the paths traced by Benedict XVI. But appearances can be deceiving. Pope Francis is putting the Church in a completely different path. If Benedict XVI was [...]
From Pope Francis’ trip to Brazil for World Youth Day, we will remember his appeal to young people to «rock the boat»; his visit to a favela in Rio, an almost ritual visit for popes; and his unscheduled movements, which have put to the test his security.
Yet, there was a [...]