Richard Gaillardetz

Gerard Mannion, who had been a senior research fellow at Georgetown University's Berkley Center since 2014, died Sept. 21 after apparently collapsing during a morning jog. He was 48.

The draft of Pope Francis' document to reorganize the Vatican's sprawling bureaucracy significantly reorients the mission of the Catholic Church's central command, emphasizing that officials must no longer consider themselves a "superior authority" but servants of the pope and the world's bishops.

A number of noted theologians and church historians are concerned that Pope Benedict XVI's choice to engage in public action undermines Pope Francis and plays into narratives splitting Catholics between two popes, one officially in power, and the other wielding influence as he writes from a small monastery in the Vatican Gardens.

Experts say that a proposal made at last month's meeting of U.S. Catholic bishops for investigating future allegations of misconduct by prelates appears likely to receive Vatican approval.

Distinctly Catholic: At last week's Amoris Laetitia​ conference in Boston, one of the most striking features was what was not said. For example, the phrase "natural law" was uttered not once.

At a conference on considering how to implement the 2016 document Amoris Laetitia, Fr. Antonio Spadaro​ said Pope Francis thinks the church can't issue general rules that apply to whole categories of people.

In discussions Oct. 5-6 at Boston College, cardinals, bishops, and other participants will discuss the "new momentum" Amoris Laetitia gives local bishops to renew pastoral practices toward families.