VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
John L. Allen Jr. | Oct. 4, 2013 All Things Catholic
I’ve been covering the Vatican for almost 20 years, and aside from the two conclaves during that span, I’d be hard-pressed to recall many weeks with more breaking news than what we experienced the last seven days.
After giving a talk for the Cushwa Center at the University of Notre Dame on Monday night, I’ve been in Rome following events. Here’s a tick-tock of what we’ve seen:
* On Monday, Pope Francis presided over a consistory of cardinals that set April 27, Divine Mercy Sunday, as the date for the canonizations of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII. The sainthood double-play is expected to bring more people to Rome than for any event since the funeral Mass of John Paul II in 2005.
* In that same consistory, Francis took the temperature of the cardinals about the idea of setting up national and regional tribunals around the world to handle sex abuse cases. It’s an idea that’s been around a while, reflecting the fact that many dioceses, especially in the developing world, don’t have the resources or expertise to process these cases effectively. If Francis follows through, it would mark his first concrete act of reform on the sex abuse front.
* Also on Monday, Francis issued a chirograph, or legal document, formally establishing his new Council of Cardinals as a permanent advisory body and giving himself latitude to add members. In effect, it was a way of underlining how much importance the pope attaches to the group, informally dubbed the “G-8.”
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