Vatican has no automatic transfer of powers with pope in hospital July 7, 2021By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The organization of the universal Catholic Church has a precise hierarchy, but there is no such thing as a “vice pope,” who steps in when the reigning pontiff is traveling abroad, ill or under anesthesia. Although hospitalized since July 4, when he underwent a three-hour surgery on his colon, Pope Francis is still the supreme pontiff and fully in charge. Some news outlets, like the Italian agency ANSA, reported that with the pope in Rome’s Gemelli hospital, “the cardinal camerlengo,” or chamberlain, “has the task of administering the temporal goods of the Holy See.” The current camerlengo is U.S. Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life. But according to the apostolic constitution, “Universi Dominici Gregis,” issued by St. John Paul II in 2007 and updated by then-Pope Benedict XVI in 2013, the camerlengo’s duties begin only with the reported death of a pope. “We are not in that situation,” Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, told Catholic News Service July 7. “The pope is fully lucid; he can call anyone. If there is anything urgent, a person can go to him.” Neither the apostolic constitution nor the Code of Canon Law make provisions for an automatic transfer of any of the papal powers when a pope is away from the Vatican or incapacitated, he said. With the pope in the hospital, officials of the Vatican and of the Diocese of Rome, whose bishop is the pope, continue with the responsibilities he delegated to them by appointing them in the first place. Bishop Arrieta said Pope Francis can, at any time, delegate special powers to someone in the Roman Curia. But until and unless he does so, the “temporal affairs” of the Vatican are handled by the Secretariat of State. Read More World News Hundreds bid ‘adieu’ to Brigitte Bardot at funeral in Saint-Tropez Archbishop Hebda calls for prayers after woman shot dead by ICE officer in Minneapolis Pope to cardinals: You are not experts promoting agendas, but a community of faith National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is back in 2026 — with a patriotic twist and a stop in Baltimore SEEK 2026 summons youth to draw close to Christ, discover his plan for their lives Archdiocese of St. Louis files to dismiss abuse charges, citing state law, case precedent Copyright © 2021 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Print
