Unfinished business: the top stories of 2023

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Dec 29, 2023

As another year draws to a close, and I survey the most important headline stories that we covered in 2023, I am struck by how many of those stories are still developing. In fact, once I drew up my list of the ten most important news stories of this past year, I realized that in every case we are still waiting for more. We really cannot close the accounts on 2023 until we see what the new year will bring.

1. The Synod on Synodality was always going to be a long-running story: a multi-year process that will culminate in a new plenary session of the Synod in October 2024—and even then, the outcome will not be certain until Pope Francis (or his successor; see #9 below) writes an apostolic exhortation summarizing the results of the discussion.
   The Pope and the prelates that he has chosen to guide this process have clearly seen the Synod as a watershed moment for the Church, perhaps the most important factor in bringing about the “irreversible change” that they hoped this pontificate would achieve. Yet while the discussions at the Synod touched on a wide range of topics and promised some dramatic changes, it is difficult to find any unifying theme in those discussions. In fact it is far easier to see the Synod as a potential source of disunity.
   In March, during the long period of consultations that led up to the October session, I argued that the Synod fathers were asking the wrong questions. By October, when the long-awaited session in Rome finally wound down, I noticed that a common sentiment among the participants was not excitement but exhaustion: “synod fatigue.” And we still have most of a year to go.
2. The German bishops, avidly following their Synodal Path despite repeated warnings from Rome, have created a real threat of open schism. To date the Vatican response has been indulgent, cautioning the German prelates against moving too fast but not categorically rejecting their calls for change in Catholic doctrine and discipline. The majority of the German bishops, for their part, evidently think of themselves as the future of Catholicism—despite unmistakable evidence that their policies have produced a pastoral disaster, driving Catholics out of the Church by the hundreds of thousands.
3. The “trial of the century” was a misnomer, but the Vatican tribunal finally made its ruling, finding nine defendants guilty on various financial-misconduct charge. Cardinal Angelo Becciu, once among the most powerful figures in the Roman Curia, now faces a prison sentence of more than five years. But will those sentences hold up under the inevitable appeals? And will the Vatican’s system of justice hold up under scrutiny, as the defendants produce their evidence that the deals they made were approved by higher authorities—including the Pope himself?
4. Fiducia Supplicans has generated more open criticism from the world’s bishops than any other Vatican statement in recent years. The directive from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, offering advice on how priests might give their blessing to couples living in irregular unions, stopped just short of suggesting approval of same-sex unions. Nevertheless countless people around the world concluded that the Vatican did mean to signal support for homosexuals. With many bishops unequivocally rejecting that message—especially in Africa, where the faith is growing fastest—the ultimate impact of Fiducia remains to be seen.
5. Father Marko Rupnik inexplicably remains a priest in good standing—despite multiple complaints of sexual and sacramental abuse; despite being excommunicated (and then quickly reinstated); despite being dismissed from the Jesuit order. He has priestly faculties in the Diocese of Koper, Slovenia; the Aletti Center that he founded in Rome continues to promote his work. His case is the most egregious in a series of cases that belie the Pope’s public commitment to eliminating sexual abuse and punishing abusers. Most remarkable of all, the mainstream media, still sympathetic to the image of Pope Francis as a reformer, have not picked up the odious scent.
6. The Nicaraguan government’s campaign against the Church escalated during the Christmas season, with the arrests of Bishop Isidoro del Carmen Mora Ortega of Siuna, two other prominent priests, and six lay workers. Bishop Roland Alvarez, already serving a 26-year sentence for his opposition to the Ortega regime, is reportedly in poor health. Dozens of other Catholic activists have been deported. Outright persecution is only a small step away—if it has not begun already.
7. FBI infiltration of traditionalist Catholic communities was all based on an unfortunate misunderstanding, according to Senator Tim Kaine. But an investigation by the House of Representatives brought out a very different result: a report entitled The FBI’s Breach of Religious Freedom: The Weaponization of Law Enforcement Against Catholic Americans.
8. The Pope’s disciplinary action against Cardinal Raymond Burke—depriving the American prelate of his Vatican apartment and salary—was a shocking display of the Pope’s determination to punish his critics. But it was not an isolated example. The ouster of Bishop Joseph Strickland from the Diocese of Tyler, Texas showed the same tendency, as did previous moves against Bishop Daniel Fernandez Torres in Puerto Rico, Cardinal Gerhard Müller in Rome, and others. If African bishops continue to denounce Fiducia Supplicans will more heads roll?
9. The Pope’s health is always a topic of intense speculation around Rome, and at the age of 87 Pope Francis is clearly not in robust condition. A painful knee condition has made him reliant on a wheelchair. He appears to have gained substantial bulk—perhaps as a result of medication? He has been hospitalized for what the Vatican describes—not very convincingly—as bronchial infections. He still maintains a very active schedule, and insists he has no thought of resignation. But the speculation will not stop.
10. The wars in Ukraine and in Gaza have prompted flurries of Vatican diplomatic activity, along with repeated prayers and pleas for peace. The diplomatic initiatives, prayers, and public pleas continue—as does the bloodshed.