The biggest challenge for the Church under Pope Francis is likely that of unity. Not ecumenical unity, but within the Catholic faith. There is, indeed, no path towards unity with others if there is no unity within herself. How can Pope Francis face the challenge of unity? Until now, Pope Francis left everyone free [...]

Perhaps the motu proprio with which Pope Francis will regulate procurements at the Vatican will be published today. This law was also discussed at the meeting the Pope had with the heads of the Vatican dicasteries on May 3. During the meeting, it was also pointed out that the new law could impact [...]

The issue of the state of Vatican finances returned to the limelight during these months of the pandemic. With the Vatican Museums closed, and donations down, how can the Holy See pay salaries, keep up services and avoid bankruptcy? On May 3rd, the heads of Vatican dicasteries discussed the issues and looked at three [...]

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ruled that the 12 hospitals of the Brothers of Charity in Belgium can no longer be considered Catholic. The CDF took an important stance. At the same time, the ruling sets a precedent we should not underestimate. Here are the facts.  The organization Brothers of [...]

Charitable works did not stop. In many countries, the priests cannot celebrate Mass with the people because of the lockdown restrictions due to the coronavirus. However, the Church’s charities kept working, even harder, facing new and more difficult emergencies. As there are no public celebrations, the priests organized to broadcast daily masses via streaming. [...]

During the past week, Pope Francis postponed by a year the World Youth Day and the World Meeting of Families. And he did the same for the International Eucharistic Congress, that was set to take place in Budapest in September 2020, and will now take place on September 2021. The life of the Church [...]

The appointment of Giuseppe Schlitzer as director of the Vatican Financial Intelligence Authority has inaugurated the fourth season of the Vatican path toward financial transparency. Schlitzer filled the last vacant position in the authority’s top positions. The Authority was shocked last October by the suspension of its director, Tommaso Di Ruzza.

Di [...]

The news of the acquittal of Cardinal George Pell from sex abuse accusations came in the week that precedes Easter. After 400 days in prison, Cardinal Pell will finally be able to celebrate Mass and enjoy his freedom.

However, Cardinal Pell’s acquittal cannot be considered a victory. Cardinal Pell lost all of his [...]

The first page of the new edition of the “Annuario pontificio” might give a clue on Pope Francis’ reforms. The Annuario is the “Vatican who’s who,” which lists the names of all the Curia members and the dicasteries. The first page is always dedicated to the Pope and all the Pope’s titles.

That first [...]

While Italy is locked down because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Holy See has nevertheless continued to work, though with less staff on site. Also, Pope Francis has kept seeing regularly the heads of dicasteries, according to the so-called “udienze di tabella” (pre-scheduled and recurrent according to a fix cycle). The life of the [...]