A storm is brewing in the Vatican over deaconesses

Last month, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Luis Ladaria SJ, took to the pages of L’Osservatore Romano to reiterate and clarify the position of the Church regarding the impossibility of ordaining women to the priesthood. His comments were unsolicited and came out of the blue. Why did the

Even now the Pope is relying on priests to be his eyes and ears in Chile Pope Francis spent portions of this past weekend with a group of five Chilean priests and two lay people, who were victims of abuse in their home country, which is currently embroiled in major crisis over the culture of

Cardinal-designate Konrad Krajewski has revived an ancient Vatican post Among the 14 people who will be receiving a red hat on the solemnity of Ss Peter and Paul, there is one who stands out as particularly significant in virtue of the office he holds and in light of the way he has discharged his duties

A mass resignation could mark a new era in child protection The clerical abuse crisis is global. Its causes are complex and its roots are deep. The situation in Chile represents in microcosm the problems facing the whole Church – problems that are not going to be solved in the short term, and will not

Whether or not he accepts the bishops' resignations, the problem will not go away

Recent events have revealed a broken culture At the start of this week, the eyes of the world were on the Vatican, where Pope Francis was preparing to receive the bishops of Chile in an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis of clerical sexual abuse, the details of which he learned through a special investigation

The Holy See says the meetings will take place in secrecy, but abuse survivors are not happy

Vatican media has said hardly a word about last week's press conference

Cardinal Errázuriz, who is in a dispute with abuse survivors, has declined to attend next week's meeting. Will the Pope make him?

Can a well-connected Grand Master hold the Knights together? The Knights of Malta, in which Pope Francis has taken a direct and personal interest, have elected a new leader. The development might have been easy to overlook, coming as it did in the midst of other events more apparently touching the common weal of the

The Vatican has failed to come down clearly on either side of the German intercommunion debate