The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life asks the cardinal “to wait a few months” before leaving the position, despite the fact that the mandate of Pontifical Commissioner depends directly on the Holy Father. The document, dated November 21, arrives one day after Specola and Infovaticana exclusively published the commissioner's resignation.

An Unexpected Move by the Dicastery

The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life sent a letter on November 21 to Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis informing him that his resignation as Pontifical Commissioner of the Heralds of the Gospel would not be accepted at this time. The response comes just three days after the resignation presented on November 18 and just one day after Specola and Infovaticana publicly broke the news, a leak that, according to internal sources, was not well received by the Prefect, Sister Simona Brambilla. The official document—which Infovaticana reproduces—asks the cardinal to wait “a few months” before his resignation can be accepted and does not mention any consultation with the Holy Father, whose intervention is indispensable in an appointment ad nutum Sanctae Sedis such as that of Pontifical Commissioner.

An Appointment that Depends on the Pope

Various sources consulted by Infovaticana indicate that the Dicastery's response has generated surprise even within the institution itself, as the nature of the appointment requires that the resignation be presented and accepted directly by the Holy Father. In this case, it is not officially recorded that Sister Brambilla had an audience with the Pope in the brief interval between the resignation on the 18th and the response on the 21st, which raises questions about the procedure followed and whether the Prefect has acted on her own initiative, without the Pontiff's approval. For many Roman observers, the way this matter has been handled suggests a lack of coordination with the Pope's Secretariat and a tendency to maintain internal control of the case without submitting it to higher review.

A Hasty Reaction After the Exclusive?

Internal sources assure that the public revelation of the resignation caught the Dicastery off guard, and the speed with which the letter was issued could indicate a hasty response. The Prefect, Sister Brambilla, would have decided to reply immediately without waiting to complete the usual procedures or consulting the Holy Father directly, in an attempt to contain the situation and maintain the initiative over the commissionership. This approach raises doubts about the Dicastery's intention to continue managing the case according to the methods inherited from the previous pontificate, characterized by broad discretion and scant legal transparency.

Why Ask for “a Few Months”? Possible Explanations

The request for “a few months” before accepting Cardinal Damasceno's resignation opens two main hypotheses. The first is that the Dicastery does not yet have a suitable successor to firmly resume the commissionership process; several of the names considered most experienced in similar interventions are occupied with other delicate tasks and would not be available immediately. The second hypothesis is that it is intended to prolong the stalemate in which the Heralds' commissionership finds itself, keeping the institution under sustained pressure through the prohibition of ordaining, admitting new members, or developing its internal life normally, which several canonists interpret as a strategy of prolonged suffocation without the need to issue formal decrees.

The Dicastery Under Pressure After Recent Revelations

The recent publications on the commissionership, including the dossier “The Commissionership of the Heralds…”, have publicly exposed the Dicastery's practices in recent years: prolonged interventions without clear legal motivation, discretionary decisions, and procedures that numerous experts qualify as contrary to Church Law. In this context, the speed of the response to Cardinal Damasceno's resignation—without an audience with the Pope—reinforces the perception that the Dicastery is trying to continue acting with autonomy and according to criteria set during the previous pontificate.

A Possible Contradiction if the Pope Also Received the Resignation

There remains an unresolved point: if Cardinal Damasceno also presented his resignation directly to the Holy Father, as would be expected in an appointment of this nature, the unprecedented situation could arise in which the Pope accepts the resignation while the Dicastery refuses it, configuring an internal conflict that would highlight the lack of coordination and procedural disorder. Canonical sources consulted by Infovaticana consider that this scenario, although hypothetical, would be a reflection of the administrative chaos surrounding this case.

A Matter that Demands the Pope's Intervention

Everything indicates that the situation of the Heralds' commissionership has reached a critical point. The accumulated irregularities, the lack of transparency, and the recent confusion generated by the management of the resignation are increasing in Rome the expectation of direct intervention by Pope Leo XIV. Only a clear decision by the Holy Father could restore legal certainty, put an end to the scandal that is being generated, and delineate responsibilities for the documented abuses during the years of the commissionership. In the meantime, the institution remains in limbo that seems to respond more to internal dynamics of the Dicastery than to criteria of justice or Law.