Cardinal Matteo Zuppi will be in Moscow June 28-29 “as the envoy of Pope Francis,” the Vatican announced today, on the second stage of a mission to explore ways to help bring an end to the war in Ukraine.

Speculation surrounding the return to Germany of Georg Gänswein is continuing unabated, not least because his status remains unclear now that he has been sent away from the Vatican.

The Argentine bishops knew for certain as early as 1979 that it was the military junta’s official policy to “disappear” people in order to quash opposition. The Vatican urged the bishops’ conference to intervene using all possible means.

Since February, Pope Francis has appointed four men under age 60 to lead major archdioceses around the world, in what have widely been viewed as efforts to shore up his legacy.

When will the day come when we won’t see a headline about the church reluctantly admitting that they have spent several decades protecting yet another predator and feeding yet more victims into the flames?

Pope Francis has declared venerable Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, founder of the first Catholic order of African American nuns, and Sister Lúcia dos Santos, one of the children who saw the Fátima vision.