Decisions are yet to be announced, and they will be this week. But the amount of gossips, rumors, even the leaks anticipating the data of the balance sheet of the Institute for Religious Works (the so called “Vatican bank”) show that there had been a war behind these decisions. The roots of this war [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Pope Francis has started to form his team. And he has done so from the very top. As Secretary of State, Pope Francis has decided to appoint Pietro Parolin, an Italian hailing from Veneto and born in 1955, who until now was Papal Nuncio in Venezuela. He is an experienced diplomat whose career [...]
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 [...]
«The important thing is that the message, the response of Fatima, in substance is not directed to particular devotions, but precisely to the fundamental response, that is, to ongoing conversion, penance, prayer, and the three theological virtues: faith, hope and charity. […] As for the new things which we can find in this message [...]
When he was appointed as Papal nuncio in Israel, he had a Muslim barber. For years, this barber asked about Abouna Boutros, Father Pietro. This is how Pietro Sambi was known in Jerusalem. Since 2005, Sambi was Papal nuncio in Washington, and this year he was ready to be nominated Prefect of [...]
It’s almost certain that cardinal Angelo Scola, patriarch of Venice, will be appointed archbishop of Milan, the biggest diocese in the world. It was Benedict XVI himself who promoted the appointment of Scola: the Pope knows personally Scola, and – as usually – when he has to make an important appointment, he [...]
«Now the longed-for day has come; it came quickly because this is what was pleasing to the Lord: John Paul II is blessed!» Benedict XVI underlines these latter words, moved from a deep emotion. Not all Popes reach the goal to beatify their predecessor. Moreover, not all Popes are able to beatify a [...]
«For all the shame we feel over our failings, we must not forget that today too there are radiant examples of faith, people who give hope to the world through their faith and love. When Pope John Paul II is beatified on 1 May, we shall think of him, with hearts full of thankfulness, [...]