Pope Francis’ opening address to the Italian Bishops Conference’s general assembly showed the spirit of the real Pope Francis. The Pope condensed his views about the Church into two pages of text that he personally wrote. His view is of a non-clerical Church, capable of educating lay people, with priests and bishops who act as …
More than a need for a reform, the Roman Curia needs better functionality and more vision – these are the conclusions one can draw from last week’s events in the Vatican. The week began with the meetings of the Council of Cardinals to discuss about Curia reforms and also with the international incident raised by …
There is a recurrent theme in all the conversations around curial reform as well as an eventual reform of Catholic doctrine on the basis of the outcome of the coming Synod of Bishops: the theme is ‘sensus fidei fidelium’ (literally, the sense of faith on the part of the faithful), that is, the intuition possessed …
For the first time in these two years of his pontificate, Pope Francis has made two “Vatican style” appointments. Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi’s appointment as Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, along with the inclusion of Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki among the members of the APSA (Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See) – …
Leggi tutto “Pope Francis, Finally Appointments “Vatican-style””
Pope Francis will speak at the United Nations Headquarters in New York this coming September 25. United Nations confirmed the papal address last week, thus making official one of the most important moments of the coming papal trip to the United States in September. The trip will last one week, and will culminate with Pope …
Leggi tutto “Pope Francis to the United Nations: Which Diplomacy?”
Pope Francis celebrated the second anniversary of the pontificate his way, by convoking an Extraordinary Jubilee for Mercy to begin December 8, 2015 and to end November 20, 2016. This decision shows how much Pope Francis is focused on the theme of mercy. The Holy See Press Office release reminded us that the word “mercy” …
Leggi tutto “Is the Jubilee of Mercy the Real Face of Pope Francis’ Revolution?”
Neglected by the media, there is a hidden Vatican that is working tirelessly to promote the human being. It is the Vatican of diplomacy, the Vatican that sits at international conferences and mediates for peace, the Vatican that employs its weight and influence in order to foster the defense of every human being. This Vatican …
The official approval of the statutes of the three recently established Vatican economic bodies marked a small turning point in the path toward Vatican reforms. The anomaly that Pope Francis created by establishing curial dicasteries without any statutes has now come to a close. The era of external consultants has now turned into the era …
In the end, the “revolution” has turned into a renewal, to be carried forward slowly. It could not be different, because in the way in which it was outlined, Curia reform could not possibly meet anyone’s criteria. Not even that of the so-called progressive wing. In the end, some criticism came from them as well. …
Is there an agenda at work behind Pope Francis’ back? As he carries out his plan of renewal for the Church, one that is based on the purification of hearts, on pastoral efforts and on evangelization through attraction, many individuals are trying to exploit his spontaneity, and also his naivete, in order to advance their …
Everything for the sake of synodality. This seems to be Pope Francis’ governing program. The Pope has already made it clear that he deems the conversion of hearts to be more important than the conversion of structures. He carefully considers every step to further expand the footprint of synodality, a wider sense of discussion within …
The week that begins today and ends with the creation of 20 new cardinals may represent the turning point of Pope Francis’ pontificate. The choices of the new cardinals not only show Pope Francis’ sensitivity toward the world’s peripheries and a certain pastoral approach, they also indicate a change concerning the pivotal issues at stake …
La riapertura delle relazioni diplomatiche tra Stati Uniti e Cuba è il primo grande successo diplomatico di Papa Francesco, e molti commentatori hanno salutato l’evento entusiasticamente come il grande ritorno della Santa Sede sulla scena internazionale. In realtà, se Papa Francesco ha avuto questo successo, è perché ha potuto raccogliere i frutti di un lavoro …
Leggi tutto “Usa-Cuba, il primo successo diplomatico di Papa Francesco”
Maccio e le contraddizioni dell’Italiano Medio Chi è l’italiano medio? È un uomo schizofrenico, o al limite bipolare, pieno di contraddizioni, diviso tra l’ “essere vegano” e il “mangiare il porco fritto”, tra le battaglie ambientali e intellettuali e la voglia di identificarsi con i protagonisti (ignorantissimi) dell’ultimo reality show delle tv generaliste. Questo almeno …
Since becoming pope, Francis has asked the Church repeatedly to reach outward toward the peripheries, and he immediately began to show his preference for them. His first papal trip was to the Italian island of Lampedusa, a periphery of the Mediterranean and an asylum for refugees. His first European trip outside Italy was to Albania, …