Settimo Cielo has followed the pontificate of Jorge Mario Bergoglio step by step, from his first greeting on March 13, 2013, from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, freshly elected, to his last appearance this past Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025, again on the loggia of St. Peter’s, where with difficulty he imparted his final blessing “urbi et orbi” (in the photo).
And below are links to some of these diary entries, published bit by bit as Francis’s pontificate unfolded.
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The first batch starts from the synod on the family of 2014 and 2015, conclusive evidence of the way in which Francis governed the Church, also in the subsequent synods:
17.10.2014
> The True Story of This Synod. Director, Performers, Assistants
8.10.2015
> Synod. First Shot on Target Comes From the Conservatives
15.10.2015
> The Letter of the Thirteen Cardinals. A Key Backstory
14.11.2016
> “Seeking Clarity.” The Appeal of Four Cardinals To the Pope
11.1.2021
> Phony Synodality. It’s Just Francis In Charge, His Own Way
4.11.2024
> Everything, Except for Synodal. The Strange Church Pope Francis Wants
6.3.2025
> Pontificate on the Wane, but With Francis Still Alone in Command
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A second batch concerns Bergoglio’s political vision and some of his moves in international relations:
12.8.2015
> From Perón to Bergoglio. With the People, Against Globalization
12.2.2016
> Over the Embrace Between Francis and Kirill Falls the Shadow of Putin
18.9.2017
> The Myth of the “Pueblo”: Francis Reveals Who Told It To Him
16.1.2025
> Putin, Assad, and Iran, the Pope’s Risky Roadmates
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The third batch is on his “fluid” teaching, often woven of contradictions:
13.5.2016
> Yes, No, I Don’t Know, You Figure It Out. The Fluid Magisterium of Pope Francis
24.12.2017
> No One Listens To Him, When He Defends Life and Family. And There’s a Reason
20.4.2021
> Francis, the Self-Contradictory Pope. Theory and Practice of a Non-Infallible Pontificate
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The fourth batch is on the devastation that has taken place in the Church in the domain of law and justice:
2.11.2021
> Francis, Supreme Legislator? No, the Law’s Gravedigger
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This is a comprehensive analysis of Francis’s pontificate written for Settimo Cielo by a great historian, Roberto Pertici:
13.4.2018
> Bergoglio’s Reform Was Written Before. By Martin Luther
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And this last is the memorandum circulated among the cardinals in March three years ago, signed “Demos,” in reality written by Cardinal George Pell, in view of a future conclave:
15.3.2022
> A Memorandum on the Next Conclave Is Circulating Among the Cardinals. Here It Is
(Translated by Matthew Sherry: traduttore@hotmail.com)
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Sandro Magister is past “vaticanista” of the Italian weekly L’Espresso.
The latest articles in English of his blog Settimo Cielo are on this page.
But the full archive of Settimo Cielo in English, from 2017 to today, is accessible.
As is the complete index of the blog www.chiesa, which preceded it.
