Rorate Caeli
The Vatican Is Now in Utter Chaos, As Was Foreseeable
by The WandererArgentina
April 23, 2025
Shortly after the death of Pope Francis, the Vatican was a hornet's nest, in every sense of the expression. In other words, it was and is chaos. It could not be otherwise when those who are at the head of the most delicate mechanisms of the Church are useless people placed there at the whim of the tyrant.
The first major problem faced is the location. Bergoglio's decision not to reside in the Apostolic Palace, because he was very humble as we all know, and to settle down in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, generated a difficult atmosphere: gossip, comings and goings of journalists, powerful people with briefcases full of money, etc. More out of necessity than taste, Francis modified the original structure of the Domus, planned by John Paul II as a residence for the cardinal electors during the conclave and hotel or lodging for prelates during the rest of the time. As the reigning Pope lived there, entire floors were reserved exclusively for him, with important structural adaptations and the fixed permanence of collaborators and prelates close to him.
And when he died there, the situation became even more complicated. For example, it was necessary to wait for the transfer of the body to St. Peter's Basilica in order to prepare the Domus for the cardinal electors. While the body was there, the entire house was armored, and the rooms reserved for it must remain sealed until the election of the new pontiff.
The Constitution Praedicate evangelium [on the Reform of the Roman Curia], signed by Francis, is proving problematic. It is up to Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the Cardinal President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State to address the question of alternative accommodations for the cardinals, since not all of them will be able to reside in the Domus due to lack of vacancies, precisely because of the reorganization carried out by Pope Francis over the years and the number of cardinals, which is greater than that foreseen by John Paul II. But in the Governorate there is no cardinal, but "Marshal" Raffaella Petrini, a Franciscan nun chosen by the Pope to occupy this position, contrary to the laws in force in the Vatican City State.
My friends who wander around the Sacred Palaces insist that everything is chaos, and some - the most wicked ones - laugh with pleasure. There are many widowers desperate because they know that their sinecures are over. The fact is that the pontificate of Pope Francis, strongly centralized and marked by drastic decisions, has created a polarized internal system and things will be hard.