Imprimer le Fil Complet
Bishops from local churches on their ad limina visits to the Vatican are amazed now to find they are no longer treated as subordinates.
Papal governance is now not remote and impersonal but “collegial”—that is, in partnership with the college of bishops by means of regular consultations and free-flowing exchanges.
Unity is no longer imposed through the coercion of uniformity, but is the gift that flows from communion, which is enabled by a culture of reciprocity and mutual listening. (Where juridical acts have been necessary—Pope Francis’ 2020 regulation of the Traditional Latin Mass springs to mind—it is to place boundaries that defend that culture.)