In 2013, shortly after the election of Pope Francis, the veteran Vatican watcher John Allen went to Argentina to learn more about the history and life of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio and to sketch his personality profile. From his research, some ambiguous situations emerged on the response by Bergoglio on two cases of [...]

As rumors about the next consistory, the reform of the Curia, and the new appointments to the Vatican spread, Pope Francis has simply slowed down the reform process, leaving everything to be determined. The latest move was to appoint Archbishop Giacomo Morandi, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, [...]

An old juridical principle is that “Prima sede a nemine iudicatur,” i.e., the head seat cannot be prosecuted by anyone. And it is the principle that the Vatican prosecutors seem to invoke when, in the interrogation of Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, whose audio was leaked, they say that no, Monsignor Perlasca would not want [...]

2021 did not end, as many expected, with the reform of the Curia. 2022, on the other hand, could begin with the announcement of a new consistory, which was expected to take place in November and which should instead take place in February.

Pope Francis’ 2021 was the year of the change of [...]

There were no surprise announcements in Pope Francis’ Christmas greetings speech to the Curia. No mention of the reform of the Curia. No mention of what was done. However, on the same day, Pope Francis formally dismissed Cardinal Peter Turkson from his role as Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, [...]

There is an interesting detail in the press release that followed the last Council of Cardinals, held in the Vatican on December 13, 14, and 15. For the first time, the text of the release does not refer to the Praedicate Evangelium, the text of the reform of the Curia, which has been [...]

During the press conference on the return flight from Greece, Pope Francis explained why he accepted the resignation of Archbishop Michel Aupetit of Paris. Aupetit, a strong voice in the French episcopate, was accused by a journalistic investigation of having had improper relations with a woman. The archbishop admitted the inappropriate exchange of [...]

The publication of the diaries of Cardinal George Pell, which Sandro Magister gave great prominence, could not go unnoticed. And in fact, there was an immediate reaction, arriving from Malta, on the sale of a luxury building in Budapest that involved Maltese companies.

Without going into the details of the affair, as intricate [...]

Julian Carron’s sudden resignation from the leadership of Communion and Liberation was the first outcome of a decree from the Laity, Family and Life Dicastery, which stipulated that no ecclesial movement, if not led by the founder, could have presidents or persons in governmental offices for more than two five-year terms. The measure [...]

The fourth hearing in the London real estate trial ended with another postponement and other questions which remain pending. But the general impression is that how Pope Francis has decided to administer justice is changing. If only, because the trial itself highlights a series of procedural flaws that have shown, so far, how the [...]