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 [...]
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 [...]
The highlight of the circumscribed press release about the meeting between Pope Francis and the U.S. president Barack Obama is that both parties affirm their mutual commitment to bring an end to the plague of the human trafficking. Human trafficking seems to be Pope Francis’ most important diplomatic challenge. Yes, there had been [...]
Watch, judge, act. These are the three steps put into action by Pope Francis. After almost one year of pontificate, Pope Francis has decided on a way forward on how to reform the Curia. Those who were thinking of a wide reform, built on a solid legal framework, will be perhaps disappointed. Pope Francis [...]
The signal was a letter signed by Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and delivered to every head of dicastery of the Roman Curia. The economic outlook for the Holy See in 2014– the Secretary of State wrote – requires «immediate measures to limit spending» on personnel. Which means: a hiring freeze, no overtime or [...]
The clock starts today for a very important week for the reform of the Church. The Council of Cardinals will begin its three-day meeting today. After that, informal meetings, until February 20 and 21, when the cardinals will gather in an ordinary public consistory. On Saturday, February 22 there will be a consistory [...]
Pope Francis gave himself a «birthday gift». On December 17 the Pope received Cardinal Amato, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The Pope listened to the report that he asked Amato to write about Peter Faber, the first companion of St. Ignatius and “a model of virtue,” according to [...]
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 [...]
The media called it «operation financial transparency». And it is. The work done within the Vatican Walls during the past few years was all intended to create a Vatican financial system to overcome the image of opacity and dubious dealings that – rightly or wrongly – was associated with Vatican financial matters.
In fact, [...]
With two changes to the anti-money laundering law, the Holy See has made its financial system even more open and transparent. The changes – approved by the Pontifical Commission of Vatican City State on December 14 and in effect since December 17 – allow the Vatican Authority for Financial Information to reach Memorandums [...]