Announced in the daily bulletin on March 30, Leo has enacted a veritable changing of the gu…

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Father Daniel Pellizzon, of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, is returning to Argentina to become parish priest of the church of San Cayetano de Belgrano near the center of the city of Buenos Aires itself.

News of the move, though not announced by any official channels of the Holy See, was shared by the parish church in late November. Announcements of Pellizzon’s welcome Mass as the new parish priest were made at the start of February, with the opening Mass being on March 1.

The priest has been made a Monsignor, a fairly customary way of a parting diplomatic gift following the conclusion of close service to the Pontiff and Holy See. Indeed it is customary for the Pope to choose his own secretaries – or bring those he already had as a cardinal – rather than keeping those of his predecessor, but Pellizzon’s departure remains notable due to who he is.

Pellizzon is not widely known to much of the Anglosphere, but he should be, given his close links to the late Pope Francis and Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández – the cardinal being one of the most controversial figures introduced to the Vatican under the last pontificate.

Pellizzon was ordained in November 2018, and has long had a very close relationship with Fernández, as well as with Pope Francis.

The Argentinian priest was private secretary for Fernández during the latter’s nine years as rector of the Catholic University of Argentina – something which was notably glossed over in English reports in July 2023 – and was also the Archbishop’s Master of Liturgical Ceremonies for key events.

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Prior to his priestly life, Pellizon also worked with Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio during his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, helping him organize his personal archive. Consequently he received a personal letter of congratulations from Pope Francis at his 2018 ordination – a Mass at which Archbishop Fernández gave the homily.

Pellizon spent four years as a priest in San Cayetano Shrine in Liniers, before moving to a new church in February 2023. However that was a short-lived assignment since he was named as private secretary to Pope Francis in July 2023, and arrived in August.

The timing of this move to Rome was closely arranged to marry up with that of his other long-time close friend and collaborator, Fernández. Fernández was named as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in July 2023 and arrived just a few weeks later.

The rest of Per Mariam’s analysis continues below, and is for paid subscribers. This site relies entirely on readers’ support to continue reporting!

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For many Vatican analysts Leo’s major appointments in the Roman Curia will be the most telling, but so f…

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During the post-consistory press conference last Thursday, Johannesburg’s Cardinal Stephen Brislin commented that though there were some differences of opinion on certain topics, the cardinals were nevertheless united. That, however, appears not to have been a full representation of the matter.

A number of cardinals speaking off the record to The Catholic Herald and Messa in Latino, mentioned concerns they had about the process itself and the control being levied over the prelates assembled.

But more than that, it seems that the troubled legacy of Pope Francis’ synodality could be the biggest stumbling block not just for the College of Cardinals but perhaps for Leo’s own pontificate.

The future of synodality depends on how the cardinals and Leo understand and interpret it: whether as a useful tool to locate genuine issues or as the endless process of questioning already settled Church teaching. So far, it seems a strong number of cardinals created by Pope Francis are on-board with the style of synodality which has hitherto been witnessed, or at least happy to be led by the vocal majority.

Some concerns are beginning to be tolerated, however, with the consistory cardinals apparently mentioning last week that it would be good to have more clarity on synodality itself – over four years after the Synod on Synodality actually began.

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It seems that the battle over the identity of synodality will be waged between the small number of hardline activists, such as Cardinals Mario Grech and Jean Claude Hollerich, Fabbio Baggio and Victor Fernández, and those who vocally oppose it, such as Cardinals Gerhard Müller, Joseph Zen and Raymond Burke.

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, Francis’ ghost-writer and interim prefect of the CDF, urgently proposed the Church renew its attention to the late pope’s 2013 text Evangelii Gaudium. In order to promote evangelization, the Argentine attested that “it is the synodal missionary reform that ultimately consists in putting in the background what does not directly serve to reach everyone with this first proclamation.”

There was no further explanation of the relegation of certain aspects which do not, according to Fernández, assist evangelization. But he appeared to refer to certain aspects of the Church’s moral teaching as he criticized that “sometimes we end up always talking about the same doctrinal, moral, bioethical, and political issues.” This, he argued, buries the Gospel message.

Vatican observers will be forgiven for hearing such a speech with cynicism given that Fernández’s text Fiducia Supplicans promoting blessings for same-sex couples ushered in arguably the biggest de facto split in the Church for decades, and led to widespread rejection from numerous episcopal conferences. Out of supposed concern for all and in order to be a “welcoming” Church, Fernández's presented the idea to the world that the Church was well on its way to approving of same-sex relationships.

The Church is nowadays somewhat shy in proclaiming the truths about pressing moral questions which the world defends – such as abortion and euthanasia – and thus for Fernández to suggest further dilution of anything deemed to be controversial is unlikely to win him much applause in the thriving and fervent areas of the Church.

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Interviewed by The Telegraph, Timothy Cardinal Radcliffe OP made a number of revelatory comments, not least about the fact that he apparently fell in love with a woman just shortly after he was ordained a priest and invited her to stay at his priory to meet the Dominican community there.

But it is his position on women’s access to the diaconal order which is a standout aspect of the interview.

Radcliffe characteristically sought to present both sides of the current argument. He downplayed the idea that the only “people that matter” are those in the sacrament of Holy Orders. ‘“Perhaps the public haven’t got it right. It’s a very clericalist view to think that the only people that matter are priests. Saints are more important than priests.”

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As is now most well known, Mater Populi Fidelis weighed into the Mariological debate and came down against the use of the term Co-redemptrix, despite the theology behind the title being consistently expounded and taught by the Church over many centuries.

Two prominent Mariologists have already critiqued the text, and to lend further weight to their arguments is the Church’s teaching on this topic from the last 200 years.

Below is an extract from the latter half of my book on Mary as Co-redemptrix, presenting the magisterial teaching from recent popes regarding the title. {Readers wishing to read the book in full may find the book online, published with an imprimatur, and a recommendation from Bishop Athanasius Schneider.}

Teaching from the 1800’s

In defining the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, Pius IX issued the Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus (1854), containing a synthesis of Marian teaching regarding the Mother of God, of which some naturally pertained to her as Co-redemptrix. He refers back to the Fathers and their exegesis of Genesis 3:15, stating that: “They also declared that the most glorious Virgin was Reparatrix of the first parents, the giver of life to posterity.”

Here the pope uses the word which was employed by many medievals and equated with Co-redemptrix. His teaching was furthered by his successor, Pope Leo XIII, renowned for his multitudinous encyclicals and also styled as the ‘Rosary Pope’. In Jucunda Semper (1894), the pope refers to the rosary as being a thorough meditation upon Mary as the Co-redemptrix throughout her life: “In it [the rosary], all the part which the Virgin played in acquiring the salvation of men returns, as set forth and as having its effect now.”

In his brief meditation upon the Crucifixion, Leo XIII notes the proximity of Mary to the Cross and the meaning of such nearness:

“there stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother, who, in a miracle of charity, so that she might receive us as her sons, offered generously to Divine Justice her own Son, and died in her heart with Him, stabbed with the sword of sorrow.”

Further he continues, in remarking how she is the mediator of man’s salvation: “To thee we lift our prayers, for thou art the Mediatrix, powerful at once and pitiful, of our salvation.”

In 1901, the pope taught that, “Every time we, with the angel, greet Mary as full of grace…we remember all the most singular merits by which She has become a partaker with her Son Jesus in the Redemption of humanity.”

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Pius X and the start of the 20th century

Pope St. Pius X continued the use of such language in his encyclical, Ad Diem Illum (1904), which was released to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Ineffabilis Deus. The pontiff mentions that she has the office of, “presenting [Christ] for the sacrifice” and that “from this community of will and suffering between Christ and Mary she merited to become most worthily the Reparatrix of the lost world.”

By drawing from St. Bernard and the spirituality of St. Louis de Montfort, Pius X describes Christ as the source but Mary as the channel, who “merits for us de congruo, as they say, what Jesus Christ merits for us de condigno, and she is the supreme Minister of the distribution of graces.” This technical language is also that of St. Thomas as outlined earlier and hence the pope is denoting that “Mary merits for humanity in the order of ‘fittingness’ or congruous merit, that which Jesus merits for us in the order of ‘justice’ or strict condign merit.”

On another occasion, in response to a dubium regarding the weight of the feast of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, the Congregation of Rites declared the wish that, “the devotion of the Sorrowful Mother may increase and the piety of the faithful and their gratitude toward the merciful Co-Redemptrix of the human race may intensify.”

Such usage of the title is a great development in the promulgation of the doctrine of Co-Redemption. Since the reply was issued from the Congregation and recorded in their official acts, it lends the title yet further weight.

Indeed, in 1913 the Holy Office granted a partial indulgence to a prayer of reparation to Our Lady, which ended with the words, “I bless thy holy Name, I praise thine exalted privilege of being truly Mother of God, ever Virgin, conceived without stain of sin, Co-Redemptrix of the human race.” Here the Holy Office quite liberally uses the term in an indulgenced prayer, very positively expressing the implicit approval of the devotion and the title.

Pope Benedict XV greatly promoted the devotion to Our Lady under this title, by clearly explaining her role in the redemption. In his letter, Inter Sodalicia (1918), he wrote on the unity of sacrifice of Mother and Son:

With her suffering and dying Son, Mary suffered almost to the point of death; she renounced her maternal rights over Him and, for the purpose of appeasing the Divine Justice inasmuch as it was dependent upon her, she offered up her Son so that it can truly be said of her that with her Son she ransomed mankind.

However, it fell to Pius XI to first use the title Co-redemptrix in a papal address. In speaking to a group of pilgrims from Vicenza in 1933, he uttered these words:

By necessity, the Redeemer could not but associate his Mother in his work. For this reason we invoke her under the title of Coredemptrix. She gave us the Savior, she accompanied him in the work of Redemption as far as the Cross itself, sharing with Him the sorrows of the agony and of the death in which Jesus consummated the Redemption of mankind.

In 1934 and 1935 he repeated the explicit use of the term twice, clearly demonstrating his ardent belief in Mary’s role.

Vatican II: Affirming but avoiding the title

Whilst not a primarily Marian document, Lumen Gentium (1964) contains a great deal of teaching regarding Mary. Before the Second Vatican Council, a multitude of requests were made by bishops regarding Mary’s mediation, with fifty bishops specifically requesting a definition of Mary as Co-Redemptrix. A note sent in response to this petition stated that any such definition would not occur, due solely to ecumenical reasons, not any theological problems. The note reads:

“Certain expressions and words used by supreme Pontiffs have been omitted, which, in themselves are absolutely true, but which may be understood with difficulty by separated brethren. Among such words may be numbered the following: ‘Co-redemptrix of the human race.’”

Hence whilst a definition did not occur, a condensed presentation of Mariology is nevertheless contained in the final chapter of Lumen Gentium. Chapter eight details a brief history pertaining to Co-Redemption theology, starting with the Scriptures and then moving onto the Fathers and their teaching on Mary as New Eve.

The Council Fathers write that:

Embracing God’s salvific will with a full heart and impeded by no sin, she devoted herself totally as a handmaid of the Lord to the person and work of her Son, under Him and with Him, by the grace of almighty God, serving the mystery of redemption. Rightly therefore the holy Fathers see her as used by God not merely in a passive way, but as freely cooperating in the work of human salvation through faith and obedience.

The document also refers to Mary as the “cause of salvation” and employs the words of St. Irenaeus regarding Mary being the New Eve as found in the Adversus Haereses. Only a few lines later, the document continues in the best lines of Co-redemptive theology:

After this manner the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, grieving exceedingly with her only-begotten Son, uniting herself with a maternal heart with His sacrifice, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this Victim which she herself had brought forth. Finally, she was given by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross as a mother to His disciple with these words: ‘Woman, behold thy son’.

Lumen Gentium describes Mary’s role in light of the concept of de congruo merit, when it discusses her mediation being not only pleasing to God, but also aiding to “foster the immediate union of the faithful with Christ”. So also does the text state that Mary was united with Christ throughout His life, but pivotally on Calvary:

She conceived, brought forth and nourished Christ. She presented Him to the Father in the temple, and was united with Him by compassion as He died on the Cross. In this singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Saviour in giving back supernatural life to souls. Wherefore she is our mother in the order of grace.

The entirety of the chapter is awash with Co-redemptive language. The Council Fathers teach that her maternity began with her Fiat and lasts until the end of time. They also refers to Mary as having a “salvific duty” and bringing to man the gifts of salvation. Through the heavy use of the language of co-operation, Lumen Gentium thus implicitly teaches the doctrine without using the actual term, yet quoting terms from previous papal Co-redemptrix teaching: “Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix.”

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John Paul II

Whilst the Council avoided using the term, Pope John Paul II used the title prolifically in his writings and addresses. Greatly inspired by the Marian spirituality of St. Louis-Marie, the pope penned the encyclical Redemptoris Mater (1987), in which he states: “Mary is perfectly united with Christ in his self-emptying…Through faith the Mother shares in the death of her Son, in his redeeming death.”

He frequently uses words referring to her sharing in the life and death of Christ and teaches that “interceding for all her children, the Mother cooperates in the saving work of her Son, the Redeemer of the world.” The pope released this Marian encyclical nine years into his papacy, but in the years prior to this he had already referred to Mary under the title of Co-redemptrix many times. Most notable among those is his homily in Guayaquil, Ecuador in 1985, in which he discourses on Mary “having suffered for the Church”:

The silent journey that begins with her Immaculate Conception and passes through the ‘yes’ of Nazareth, which makes her the Mother of God, finds on Calvary a particularly important moment. There also, accepting and assisting in the sacrifice of her son, Mary is the dawn of Redemption…Crucified spiritually with her crucified son, she contemplated with heroic love the death of her God… In fact, at Calvary she united herself with the sacrifice of her Son that led to the foundation of the Church…Nevertheless, as she was in a special way close to the Cross of her Son, she also had to have a privileged experience of his Resurrection. In fact, Mary’s role as Coredemptrix did not cease with the glorification of her Son.

In reading the text of this homily, one becomes very clearly acquainted with a theological explanation of Scripture and the words of Lumen Gentium. But a few months later, the pope gave a homily on Palm Sunday, in which he commended devotion to Mary: “May Mary our Protectress, the Co-redemptrix, to whom we offer our prayer with great outpouring, make our desire generously correspond to the desire of the Redeemer.”

In a general audience given on October 25, 1995, the pontiff gave a brief history of the development of Co-redemptive teaching in the Church where he traced its origins from the Fathers through to the time of St. Bernard. In another audience given in 1996, he noted the woman of the Apocalypse as Mary at the Cross, and also repeated Mary’s role as the New Eve:

“This [Rev 12:2] refers to the mother of Jesus at the Cross, where she shares in anguish for the delivery of the community of disciples with a soul pierced by the sword…It was fitting that like Christ, the new Adam, Mary too, the new Eve, did not know sin and was thus capable of co-operating in the Redemption.”

John Paul II delivered a series of seventy catechetical teachings on Our Lady between 1995 and 1997, of which a key part was the General Audience of April 2 1997 where he gave a very insightful meditation on Mary’s compassion:

With our gaze illumined by the radiance of the resurrection, we pause to reflect on the Mother’s involvement in her Son’s redeeming passion, which was completed by her sharing in his suffering. Let us return again, but now in the perspective of the Resurrection, to the foot of the Cross where the Mother endured ‘with her only-begotten son the intensity of his suffering, associated herself with his sacrifice in her mother’s heart, and lovingly consented to the immolation of this victim which was born of her.’ … In her heart reverberates all that Jesus suffers in body and soul, emphasising her willingness to share in her Son’s redeeming sacrifice and to join her own maternal suffering to his priestly offering.

Pope John Paul II not only uses the title Co-redemptrix with great frequency, but he also writes and preaches explaining Co-redemptive theology. Influenced by St. Louis, he is devoted to Mary as being intimately united with Christ in the redemptive act and thus recognizes that closeness to Mary is closeness to God.

In what has been billed by some as a significant development in ecumenical relations between the Church of England and the Catholic Church, today’s midday prayer service was attended by leaders from the religious and diplomatic sphere in the U.K. and the Vatican, and was dedicated to the “the protection of Nature and concern for the environment.”

Charles is supreme governor of the Church of England, a position held since the Protestant Revolt and break with Rome enacted by King Henry VIII in 1534. The King and Queen had been due to make a state visit to the Holy See in April, but postponed it due to Pope Francis’ ill health at the time.

The visit to the Holy See was described earlier this year as “an historic visit in the year of the Papal Jubilee, and will mark a significant step forward in relations between the Catholic Church and Church of England.”

For the ecumenical service, the Church of England’s current ranking clerical member – the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell – was present, given that the newly appointed female archbishop of Canterbury has not yet been installed.

Choir members from the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel were joined by those of the King’s choristers from Windsor Castle and St. James’s Palace.

Pope Leo and then Cottrell intoned the opening prayer before the choirs chanted psalms combining Catholic Gregorian Chant with the distinctive sound of the Anglican choral tradition of English choirs. The U.K.’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper read the scripture passage taken from St. Paul.

In closing the ceremony, Cottrell and Leo jointly led the final concluding prayer, with no formal papal blessing being given.

Details given by Buckingham Palace about the ceremony noted that the event’s ecological focus and “theme of ‘Care for Creation’,” were “reflecting Pope Leo’s and His Majesty’s commitment to the protection of Nature and concern for the environment.”

The Pope’s throne in the Sistine Chapel was not used, and instead Leo sat on one of four identical ornate chairs in front of the altar. Joining him was Cottrell, the King and Queen.

Despite the headlines carried by many secular outlets of the ceremony being the first joint prayer between the British monarch and the Pope in 500 years, it is actually believed to be the first since the 800’s. However, it is arguably the most significant ecumenical event since the Protestant revolt of the 1500’s, during which the Church of England broke away in schism from Rome.

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Ecological unity and reciprocal brotherhood

Following the ceremony, Charles and Leo had a private meeting together furthering what is described as their joint, keen interest in climate issues.

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As prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDW) from 2014 through 2021, Robert Cardinal Sarah has more authority than most when addressing questions of the liturgy. He is known for his defense of reverence in the liturgy, advocating for such elements as ad orientem worship, reception of Communion kneeling and on the tongue, and has also given voice to advocating for the traditional Mass.

Speaking to Tribune Chrétienne last week, Sarah lamented the rekindling of the liturgy wars. “We have turned the Mass into a battlefield — traditionalist, progressive, this and that — and we are profaning the Eucharist,” he said.

For the cardinal, this is all the more egregious since the Mass “is the only time when man is in face-to-face relationship with God. It is the only time when man is in direct contact with God, when God listens to him, when he speaks to God.”

Harkening back to the phrase quoted by Pope Benedict XVI in Summorum Pontificum – Lex orandi, lex credendi (the law of prayer, the law of belief) – Sarah reiterated the link between liturgy and spirituality: “As we believe, so we pray.”

“If people don’t believe, then nothing will change,” he warned. “We continue to fight over liturgy, we continue to bully certain people.”

The Guinean prelate did not condemn any group or individual by name, but instead praised Catholics devoted to the traditional liturgy of the Church as an example of lived faith:

But when we really look at Christians who practice today, they are the ones who go to traditional Mass. So why forbid them? On the contrary, we should encourage them.

I don’t know what the Pope will do, but he is aware of this battle. He is aware of this difficulty.

Much has been speculated about what Leo XIV’s response will be to the question of the traditional liturgy, following the crippling restrictions imposed by his predecessor.

Cardinal Raymond Burke publicly revealed in June that he had already taken the opportunity to speak to the new Pope about the future of the traditional Mass. With the American cardinal being a prominent champion of the traditional liturgy, it seems likely that he has been using his presence in Rome to continue that cause.

Burke has since had a papal audience and will prominently offer the traditional Mass in the Vatican for an annual pilgrimage next weekend.

Sarah also met with Leo in audience in recent weeks, and though the conversation was private he noted to Tribune Chrétienne that he had the chance to raise the question of the traditional Mass with Leo.

But the cardinal also urged patience and restraint. “The Pope is the father of each and every one of us,” Sarah said. “He is the father of traditionalists. He is the father of progressives, the father of everyone. We cannot ignore his children. Everyone has their own character, their own sensibilities. We must take everyone into account. I think he will try to act in this spirit.”

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Archbishop Gänswein on the need for ‘urgent healing’

Just as forthright as Cdl. Sarah’s were the comments made by Archbishop Georg Gänswein a few weeks prior. Now serving as Nuncio to Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, Gänswein was the longtime secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, and thus has a unique view of Pope Francis’ dismantling of Benedict’s attempt to implement liturgical peace.

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He points to the intimate link between love of God and love of neighbor, quoting – as would be expected – from the Gospel passage: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” (Matt 25:40)

Condemning the “throwaway culture” – in a passage drawn from Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ – and rejecting the notion that society has reduced the amount of poverty, Leo sought to highlight the duty of caring for the poor as contained within the Gospels.

Touching somewhat briefly on the topic of migrants also – a hot topic under Pope Francis – Leo somewhat echoed his predecessor in saying that migrants represent Christ knocking on the door.

As noted by Leo, the Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te takes its name from Revelations 3:9, using the very end of the scriptural passage “they shall know that I have loved thee.”

Leo’s document is not entirely his own in the sense that it builds upon a text already prepared for Pope Francis. Indeed the link to the Francis pontificate is clear from the very title “Dilexi te,” which clearly links back to Francis’ 2024 encyclical Dilexit nos.

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Acknowledging this, Leo wrote that in his last months Francis was preparing:

an Apostolic Exhortation on the Church’s care for the poor, to which he gave the title Dilexi Te, as if Christ speaks those words to each of them, saying: “You have but little power,” yet “I have loved you” (Rev 3:9). I am happy to make this document my own — adding some reflections — and to issue it at the beginning of my own pontificate, since I share the desire of my beloved predecessor that all Christians come to appreciate the close connection between Christ’s love and his summons to care for the poor.”

Leo has indeed made this theme of his predecessor his own, noting that “I too consider it essential to insist on this path to holiness, for ‘in this call to recognize him in the poor and the suffering, we see revealed the very heart of Christ, his deepest feelings and choices, which every saint seeks to imitate.’”

Quoting from Evangelii Gaudium, Leo also urged that Catholics “‘let ourselves be evangelized’ by the poor and acknowledge ‘the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.’”

“Caring for the poor is part of the Church’s great Tradition,” he concluded, “a beacon as it were of evangelical light to illumine the hearts and guide the decisions of Christians in every age.”

Divided into five chapters and 121 numbered paragraphs, the Exhortation is somewhat shorter than some of Pope Francis’ more prominent texts.

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In an increasingly secular world, what relationship does the liturgy have with the Catholic Church’s moral teachings? Further, can the liturgy be so divorced from the Church’s moral teachings as to be a way to escape those teachings?

If such were indeed the case, then the answer would surely be that either the teachings or the liturgy in question were not actually Catholic, since the beliefs, practice and worship of the Catholic Church are intimately and intrinsically bound together.

So did Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of the Archdiocese of Tokyo paint a line between the Church’s traditional liturgy – widely known as the Latin Mass – and Her teachings, or was he highlighting a cultural phenomenon in Japan?

A way to escape

Japan has a relatively low number of Catholics, estimated last year to be less than half a million, whilst the overall population is around 123 million.

Opining on why that number is so low, Cdl. Kikuchi spoke to UCA News to say that Japanese people have “no strong personal religious commitment in everyday life.”

But more than this, Kikuchi pointed to a national perception of the Catholic Church as being too liberal for Japanese sensitivities:

Additionally, in Japan, another factor is that most people tend to be politically conservative. The Catholic Church’s social teachings are often seen as not very conservative, and sometimes even leftist or, to some, “communist.” Therefore, the Church can be viewed with suspicion.

In light of this, the new cardinal – created in the December 2024 consistory by Pope Francis – commented thus on the traditional liturgy:

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Amid the flurry of interviews given…

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(PerMariam) — It is a strange thing, to witness history in the making.

We can never be quite sure exactly how we will react to world-defining events. Shock, awe, elation, surprise, terror… the litany of possible emotions goes on. But while we will all experience some immediate, perhaps visceral response to what unfolds before us, it can sometimes happen that only afterwards, upon deeper reflection, an impression will precipitate.

For me, the recent papal conclave was one such event.

I ventured out to Rome for the 2025 conclave in a journalistic capacity, prepared to report on the news cycle, but as a committed Catholic it is impossible to ever spend time in Rome in a merely professional mode. I have had the great fortune of spending many months in the Eternal City, all in, and every visit provides an opportunity for some new or unexpected experience or encounter. The conclave, naturally, was no exception.

While the world usually sails past Church affairs without paying any notice (lest scandal looms), the election of a pope captivates the secular and faithful imagination alike. Much fanfare was even made (and seemingly always is) of the pre-conclave period, with pundits prophesying, bookkeepers betting and, of course, cardinals convening. Talk of secret meetings between those in the latter group abounded, providing enough smoke to replace the Sistine Chapel furnace. Rome, after all, would be nothing without its dubious tips and loose lips.

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The true weight of the event, however, began with the swearing in of the cardinals on the first day of the conclave. Set against the background of the schola of St. Peter’s chanting the litany of the saints, the 133 cardinal-electors made their public oath to dutifully carry out the office of selecting the successor of St. Peter and maintain the traditional secrecy of their votes, before being sequestered in the Sistine Chapel.

While a lengthy ceremony, the event did provide an opportunity to become just a little more familiar with the largely indistinguishable faces of the College of Cardinals, one of whom would emerge just a day-and-a-half later, in white zucchetto and cassock, on that famed central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica.

After almost two hours, and with many thousands captively watching the grand ceremony, the final cardinal professed his oath and the papal master of ceremonies – in an awe-striking moment that seemed to transport one through the ages – made the solemn declaration “Extra omnes,” ordering everyone other than the cardinal electors to leave the chapel. The doors were closed behind him and sealed for the commencement of the first vote.

As a journalist, I had come prepared to file reports, to find just the right vantage point for taking good pictures, and to keep vigil for chimney smoke. But as a Catholic, I was aware I was witnessing something far deeper than news: the mystical rhythm of apostolic succession playing out beneath Michelangelo’s Last Judgment, the visible Church doing its hidden work. The city of Rome seemed to hold its breath as the world awaited the arrival of the newest occupant of its most ancient next-door neighbour. And in that waiting, a stillness settled, as if the city (and all those gathered) knew the next voice it would hear would not be just any man’s, but Peter’s echo in a new successor.

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Though the chattering classes of Rome had decided among themselves – quite correctly – that the conclave would be a swift one, I was not so convinced and, after a three-hour wait for the cardinals to cast their initial vote, had braced myself for the long haul. My assumption, however, was to be proven wrong, with only two chuffs of black smoke to emerge from the chapel chimney before that signal would change colour and, with it, history.

Standing in St. Peter’s square just a day and a half after the first vote had been cast, gazing up into the evening sunshine as plumes of white smoke billowed into the Roman sky from the temporary chimney atop the Sistine Chapel, I found myself a little emotionally lost. Basking for a moment in the evening sun I knew I should feel something, and that it should be profound and full of meaning, but not precisely what that ought to look or feel like. Certainly, a rush of excitability seized my body, but still a kind of inhibiting emptiness, a disturbing lack of imagination, filled my mind.

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Providentially, however, there was no time to dwell on this interior crisis. Having come to Rome with a journalistic agenda I swiftly came to some modicum of sense, captured a handful of images of the famous white smoke, and began wading through the crowds – which seemed to multiply by mitosis – to the press area atop the mighty colonnades enveloping St. Peter’s Square.

After the frantic push to the gates, elbowing to get ahead of an estimated 6,000 fellow media men, I managed to scale the dizzying spiral staircase in enough time to secure a spot with just enough visibility of the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica – now decked out with regal red curtains and a plush banner with the papal keys draped over the front – to get a worthwhile snap of the newest most famous man in the world. All that was left to do now was wait for him to come forward and address the world.

With St. Peter’s Basilica acting like a great magnet, waves of excited pilgrims and curious locals streamed, seemingly endlessly, towards the square. The press area quickly filled to its brim. If they were anything like me, they were compelled there by a nervous and overwhelming desire to know, to quash the anticipation and sense of dread, and to hope.

So numerous were the crowds that the streams spilled out of the piazza and down into every side street and alley surrounding the basilica. History was again being made in that most historic of places.

And then he appeared.

Having been announced to the world “gaudiam magnam,” a man dressed in white, and also red and gold, stepped into the light of the loggia. “Habemus Papam!” While the masses erupted into cheers, and cameras flashed and clicked in unison, amid the frenzy of elation and surprise an unexpected stillness stole over me, both exteriorly and interiorly. It was peaceful and it was hopeful. Though I knew not the man who stood just a few metres away, waving to the crowds and bowing in prayer, it was a moment of spiritual weightlessness, no more than a flash of relief between what had been and what was to come.

Ancient ritual speaks to us. We are moved by it, wrapped up in the mystery, conversely drawn out of the moment while yet never being more in touch with ultimate reality.

As Catholics, we are blessed to have such ancient rituals baked into our liturgical and sacramental lives (when they aren’t being viciously suppressed). For the secular realm, distracted as it is from its Creator and its own purpose, the spectacle of a papal election draws its gaze and offers it something enduring. The world depends on these moments of heaven and earth meeting in a more tangible way; knowingly or not, we have an eternal need that finds nourishment in these glimpses of the divine.

At this early stage in Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate, Vatican analysts and Curial of…

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As the Catholic Church marks the two-week point of Leo XIV’s pontificate, some early themes and central tenets of his pontificate are already emerging. Without doubt his papacy remains very much in its infancy, and for a man who might reasonably be expected to remain 15 or 20 years on the throne, two weeks is but a blink of an eye.

Nevertheless, for those with a keen eye on Vatican affairs, clues are already present and a key question about the Leonine years is his decision on the future of the Synod on Synodality.

From Francis to Leo: A synodal Church?

The Synod on Synodality truly dominated the latter half of Francis’ pontificate. Barely a speech or homily could go by without notable mention from Francis of “synodality,” the importance of being a “synodal Church,” or of requiring a Church-wide “synodal” conversion.

Indeed he ensured that this focus would continue as the prominent theme for his successor, when – from his hospital bed – he approved a three-year implementation period of the already three year Synod.

As prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, then-Cardinal Prevost was involved in both the 2023 and 2024 sessions of the Synod held at the Vatican. Furthermore, as the “go-to” man for about half of the world’s bishops when visiting Rome for their ad limina, he would have had key oversight into how the Synod was being implemented in local dioceses and what effect it was having.

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In a statement issued via Hungarian Ambassador to the Holy See, Eduard Habsburg, the cardinal said:

“Any speculation of a pre-conclave deal between Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdö and former Vatican Secretary of State…

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Following Pope Francis’ death at 7:35 am Monday morning, the ancient custom of a papal funeral and conclave begun once agai…

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VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — In a surprise move, Pope Francis appeared in the Vatican today in an event most notable for the fact of the strikingly disheveled nature of his appearance.

A little before 1 p.m. Rome time on Thursday afternoon, tourists and pilgrims in St. Peter…

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(PerMariam) — Ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick died Thursday at the age of 94, marking the end of the earthly life of a man who had such an immense and devastating impact on the Catholic Church …

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Francis returned to the Casa Santa Martha – the Vatican…

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