An Italian journalist says parts of Pope Francis’s recent family exhortation drew on writings by an Argentine prelate who once clashed with the Vatican. Writing in L’Espresso, Sandro Magister compared passages from Amoris Laetitia with passages from two articles by Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández. “The resemblance between the two is very strong,” the journalist wrote. Read more
A German bishop has recounted an incident in which Pope Francis showed no opposition to the concept of more married priests. The auxiliary Bishop of Hamburg, Bishop Hans-Jochen Jaschke, spoke of this on a German television talk show “Nachtcafe”. Bishop Jaschke mentioned the meeting between the German bishops and the Pope on November 20 last Read more
The Vatican has denied that Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment had been delayed over doctrinal fears. Veteran Vaticanista Sandro Magister claimed on his blog Settimo Cielo on May 11 that the Pope had “binned” the first draft of the encyclical in March. Magister said the Pope feared the first draft would have been “demolished” Read more
The rector and two deans at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome have been replaced in a sudden move by the Society of Jesus. The heading for an article by Vatican commentator Sandro Magister described the move as an “earthquake”. As of April 14, rector Fr James McCann and the deans of the faculties of Read more
The memoirs of a Vatican II theological expert closely involved in the reform of the liturgy reveal some of the machinations that took place in the process. Frenchman Fr Louis Bouyer, who died in 2004, was appointed by Pope Paul VI to the Concilium which worked on the revised order of the Mass. The priest’s Read more
The Vatican has disputed a report that the prelate appointed by Pope Francis to supervise the reform of the Vatican Bank indulged in flagrant gay affairs while serving as a papal diplomat. The report by Vatican journalist Sandro Magister said Monsignor Battista Ricca, 57, had a live-in lover when he served as a papal diplomat Read more
Pope Francis may have to replace the cleric he recently appointed to the key position of prelate of the Vatican Bank, according to a veteran journalist who writes of a “scandal near the point of exploding”. Monsignor Battista Mario Salvatore Ricca was described as a “trusted cleric” when the Pope’s appointment was announced on June Read more
Pope Francis has a general policy of not administering Communion to members of the congregation at the public Masses he celebrates. Though the Pope has give no explanation for this practice, Vatican journalist Sandro Magister has come up with the reason: He does not want to give unrepentant sinners a photo opportunity. Magister said the Read more