The conclave of cardinals has yet to
elect a new pope but whoever it is the next Roman pontiff's
in-tray and agenda are already full, Vatican officials say.
Even as the cardinals are gathered in the Sistine Chapel, there
is a whole calendar of commitments that looms and awaits the new
Pope emerging from the ballot boxes of the conclave.
It is a very busy agenda of deadlines on which the newly elected
pontiff will be called to pronounce himself starting in the days
immediately following his ascension to the throne of Peter.
It is clear that among the very first tasks of the 267th Roman
Pontiff is the choice of his most direct collaborators and the
leaders of the Dicasteries of the Curia, the government of the
universal Church: therefore, to see who to confirm (perhaps
because their respective five-year terms have not yet expired)
or appoint ex novo for the various sectors, after all the
positions - starting with that of the Secretary of State, and
with the exception of a very few - expired with the death of
Pope Francis.
Another decision to be made very soon, for the Pope, will be
whether to confirm the trip that Francis was supposed to make to
Turkey before the end of the month for the anniversary of the
Council of Nicaea: a very important event on the ecumenical
level, for which the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew had
always taken Francis' presence for granted, but which was then
cancelled due to Francis's last illness.
The trip has been prepared in any case, and the new pope will
only have to decide whether to go personally, as the first trip
of the pontificate, or whether to send his delegate. Among the
other appointments to be set are those regarding the
canonizations that have been suspended, first of all that of
Carlo Acutis, the millennial saint "patron of the web", which
was to take place on April 27 on the occasion of the Jubilee of
adolescents.
Also in sight is that of Pier Giorgio Frassati on August 3, at
the end of the Jubilee of young people, another great and
eagerly awaited Jubilee event.
Then those to be set - from Bartolo Longo, founder of the Shrine
of Pompeii, to José Gregorio Hernández, the "people's doctor"
who will be the first Venezuelan saint - to establish the date,
a choice that Francis had postponed to a Consistory that however
he did not have time to schedule and lead.
It will be the Jubilee, with its succession of events, that will
change pace with the nomination of the new pope, after the
difficult start due to the illness and hospitalization of the
deceased pontiff.
This Holy Year, among other things, will be the second in
history after that of 1700 in which the Holy Door was opened by
one pope and closed by another.
The first commitments that await the new pontiff shortly and in
rapid succession are the Jubilee of Confraternities from 16 to
18 May; the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents and the
Elderly from 30 May to 1 June; the Jubilee of Movements,
Associations and New Communities from 7 to 8 June; the Jubilee
of Sports from 14 to 15 June; the Jubilee of Governors from 20
to 22 June; in the following days, that of Seminarians and
Priests; the others will follow until the closing of the Holy
Door, on January 6, 2026.
The other great 'construction site' started by Pope Francis, and
which in some way awaits the new Pontiff, is the three-year
"implementation phase" of the Synod on synodality, which already
includes the publication of the Support Document in this month
of May, the implementation paths in the local Churches and their
groupings between June and December, the Jubilee of the synodal
teams and participation bodies on October 24-26, then continuing
until the "Ecclesial Assembly in the Vatican", set for October
2028.
Among the thorniest issues in sight, from September 22, will be
the appeal of the trial on the management of funds of the Holy
See and the sale of a property on Sloane Avenue in London,
strongly desired by Pope Francis, which will inevitably bring
the affair for which Cardinal Angelo Becciu was convicted of
embezzlement back into the spotlight.
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