With a new motu proprio (click here) published on Tuesday, Pope Francis has modified canon law for both the Latin Church and the Eastern Churches, changing the areas of competence for various bodies within the universal Church. Specifically, with the Apostolic Letter Assegnare alcune competenze (“Assigning certain competencies,” taken from the opening words, or incipit” of the document), Pope Francis transfers certain responsibilities from the Vatican to local bishops.
Fostering collegiality
The new norms deal with different areas of Church life, in each case specifying the authorities competent to make decisions with regard to those issues. “The intention,” of the changes, writes Pope Francis at the beginning of his Letter, “is above all to foster a sense of collegiality and pastoral responsibility on the part of Bishops […] as well as Major Superiors, and also to support the principles of rationality, effectiveness, and efficiency.”...
The new norms deal with different areas of Church life, in each case specifying the authorities competent to make decisions with regard to those issues. “The intention,” of the changes, writes Pope Francis at the beginning of his Letter, “is above all to foster a sense of collegiality and pastoral responsibility on the part of Bishops […] as well as Major Superiors, and also to support the principles of rationality, effectiveness, and efficiency.”...
By Jackie Turvey Tait and Tobias Winright
A full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine (click here) seems imminent, but nobody really wins if this happens. The global economic and food security impacts would fall disproportionately on the most vulnerable. Catholic concern for the common good and just war principles require us to look for a diplomatic solution that might avert the evils such a conflict would unleash. In particular, a personal intervention by Pope Francis may be our last hope for successful negotiations to preserve peace.
Notably, Pope Francis writes in “Fratelli Tutti” that “it is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria elaborated in earlier centuries to speak of the possibility of a ‘Just War’” (No. 258), in part because of the destructive power of modern weapons. However, this does not mean contemporary Catholic ethics calls for unqualified pacifism; the just war framework allows leaders to judge whether military action is reasonable in light of traditional principles and pragmatic considerations....
