By the looks of it, gang, Roman Noon tomorrow will be a busy one... and so it seems, that's putting it mildly.
So say the ops, appointments of new bishops are on-deck in Rockford and Pensacola-Tallahassee, and quite possibly more.
Likewise reported to be in the offing is the Vatican's long-awaited final report on the Apostolic Visitation of the Irish church, ordered by B16 following the sizable revelations of clergy sex-abuse and chancery cover-ups there over recent decades.
And with all that, so much for a quiet prep-week before the PapaViaje to Mexico and Cuba (starting Friday), not to mention what could well be the Stateside church's Trial of the Century -- the first criminal proceeding for a US church official charged with facilitating a cover-up -- which begins a week from today in these pages' backyard, and is expected to last as long as four months.
Lest anyone forgot, the house rules forbid the disclosure of the names of priests being elevated to the episcopacy until the formal announcement. Indeed, they need these last hours of peace more than the world needs to know who they are, so tonight, just keep 'em in your prayers.
And with that, back into the mine. With the Daylight Savings shift yet to happen in Italy, it's worth repeating that Vatican Noontime is an hour later than usual: 7am Eastern/6 Central... and while we're at it, the reminder's likewise in order that these pages keep coming your way solely by means of one thing -- your support:
Suffice it to say, it's either this or lights out. As ever, all thanks in advance.
On that note, while an admittedly overdue thanks and briefing for the donors has already been in the works these last few days, all apologies that it's gonna be held up a bit more now.
All that said, church, here we go again. For all the rest, as always, stay tuned.
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