Two events of the week do not seem connected, and yet they are. The events are the publication of the MONEYVAL report, which certifies all the structural problems of the Vatican judicial system, and the resignation as Archbishop of Munich – Freising offered by Cardinal Reinhard Marx and rejected by Pope Francis.

They [...]

In 2010, Benedict XVI wrote a letter to the Church of Ireland shaken by the case of abuse. And there was a passage in that letter that was enlightening: after the Second Vatican Council – we read – “there was a well-intentioned but misguided tendency to avoid penal approaches to canonically irregular situations.”

[...]

In one fell swoop, Pope Francis appoints prefect, secretary, and undersecretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. In this way, he will fill the position left by Cardinal Robert Sarah, whose resignation he accepted for reaching retirement age last February. According to his habit, the Pope begins to [...]

Among the novelties of the reform of the Curia already applied by Pope Francis on several occasions, there is a noteworthy one: priests and bishops cannot work in the Holy See more than two five-year terms – that is to say that no monsignor of the Curia will be able to serve for more [...]

There are many interpretations for the letter that Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, sent to Archbishop José Horacio Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). And these are all keys to help us understand both the perspectives of [...]

The meeting of the Council of Cardinals last May 6 served, according to the Press Office of the Holy See, to discuss “the working methodology that will have to be implemented for the revision and correction of some normative texts following the future entry into force of the next apostolic constitution.” It means that [...]

There is no doubt that Pope Francis wants to fight corruption in the Vatican and promote a change of mentality. Everything the Pope has done so far aims to project a different image of the Vatican, free from courts and powerful gatekeeper secretaries. Above all, a truly “poor for the poor” Vatican, which uses [...]

Without an announcement in the official bulletin, Pope Francis has made a small reform that could have a significant impact: he included, among the members of the three new dicasteries created as such, laypeople and monsignors alongside cardinals and archbishops. It is a small thing, since also before there were lay members in some [...]

Next week, the Holy See / Vatican City State will receive the MONEYVAL progress report, which will judge the Vatican judicial system’s effectiveness. During the year, the Curia reforms should be formalized, with the promulgation of the new apostolic constitution, which has been expected for years. These are two crucial points in the [...]

After Benedict XVI’s renunciation from the pontificate and the election of Pope Francis, there have been many speculations on the validity of the renunciation of the now Pope Emeritus. And even in the past month, the possibility that Pope Francis is an anti-pope has made its way through the Italian press.

In summary, this [...]