Among the priorities that had emerged in the general congregations before conclave the request to bring order to the regulatory chaos that had often arisen in the last years of the previous pontificate had also found space. A mission that Leo XIV gave canonistis trying to bring it to fruition. A final proof of this is the motu proprio which became known on Friday and through which Prevost modified an article of the Fundamental Law of the Vatican City State. A small but decisive change to repair one gap which has been talked about for months within the Sacred Walls.
The motu proprio
The intervention of Leo XIV has provided that the Pontifical Commission for the State of the Vatican City can be composed of cardinals but also “from other members”including the president. It is a formal but not substantial innovation. The issue originates on January 19, 2025 when Francesco, guest of Fabio Fazio to What’s the weather like? surprisingly announced his intention to appoint Sister Raffaella Petrini as head of the Governorate of the Vatican City State and therefore president of the Pontifical Commission.
The announcement made many people turn up their noses and not just because of the television context. While no one had questioned the qualities of sister Raffaella Petrinia highly esteemed figure in the Vatican who had already made herself appreciated as general secretary of the Governorate, many had shaken their heads at the contradiction between the nomination declared by Bergoglio and what he himself had established not even two years earlier in the Fundamental Law of the Vatican City State. To the art. 8, no. 1 of the Vatican “constitution” promulgated on May 13, 2023 yes reserved the role of president of the Pontifical Commission to the cardinals.
The anomaly
Despite the dictate of this article which is also quite recent, in March of this year Sister Petrini is took over to Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga now eighty years old at the helm of the Governorate and the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State. The planned takeover occurred in Francis’ most difficult hours, as he struggled between life and death at the Twins making it complicated to modify that pre-existing rule. The situation has remained undefined to this day, although Sister Petrini continued to be appreciated even in her new role.
Leo XIV now listened to those who asked him to bring order to the regulatory confusion and changed the law adapting it to the state of things. He did it, it was written, “in response to governance needs that are proving to be increasingly complex and pressing”. An intervention that is also in the interest of Sister Petrini, considered by many to be one of the better appointments of the previous pontificate and not because she was the first woman to rise to the top of the Governorate, but because of her managerial qualities combined with a profound and sincere spirituality.
Furthermore, Leo put order where it is needed.
The topic of law is generally very dear to the canonist Prevost as revealed by the message sent to the Association of Managers of Institutes Dependent on Ecclesiastical Authority (AGIDAE), on the occasion of a conference organized on the 65th anniversary of its institution and in which he recommended “the’harmonization between principles of Italian civil law and canonical legislation” urging to “continue to pay attention to social and civil values, as well as to the ongoing training of managers and employees”.