Vatican is beginning to change and completely restructure (part 1)

Forecast: "May 2025 - new conditions, new trajectories. Part 1 - first encounter with May 2025" (published April 26, 2025, link)

S. Dragun:

...The Vatican will update its guidelines. The decision will be unexpected... regarding the newly arrived pope. But it will be something unprecedented, the Vatican is beginning to change and completely restructure.

Before evaluating the forecast, note that no existing or current form of political regime or governance can be compared to that which has formed in the center of Rome. With the Vatican. Everyone considers the Vatican the center of power and intrigue.

Nothing can compare to the Holy See and the Roman Curia, which have become synonyms of spiritual and political authority, but also intrigue, palace revolutions, and even crimes.

As of April 26, 2025, in the forecast: "May 2025 - new conditions, new trajectories (Part 1)": S. Dragun predicted that "the decision to update Vatican leadership will be unexpected regarding the newly arrived pope."

This decision truly became something unprecedented. For the first time in history, an American was chosen as Pope.

The cardinals initially did not want to choose American priest Robert Prevost as the new Pope. This was reported by Politico, citing an anonymous statement from a participant in the elections.

At the time, Vatican historian Alexei Yudin stated that the majority of cardinals who elected the new Pope Leo XIV at the conclave were personally appointed by Pope Francis. And those in favor were more than ever in history.

With the arrival of the new Pope, "The Vatican began to change and completely restructure."

The previous Pope Francis, being the first Jesuit pontiff in centuries, tried to modernize the church, but his reforms had the opposite effect:

Adapting to the world, rather than leading to God. Francis strived to be closer to the flock, but in the end, the church has become more like a secular corporation than a religious institution.

Doctrinal liberalization. Allowing same-sex unions, softening positions on many moral issues - all this repels traditional Catholics.

Loss of spiritual authority. As political scientist Dmitry Журавlev noted, "Francis did not lead people to God, but followed them."

The Jesuits, created as a response to the Reformation, today become a threat to Catholicism, turning it into a "convenient" religion without clear guidelines.

Economy and politics: why the Vatican is no longer a superpower

Previously, the Vatican was a supra-state: kings and emperors only received power with the pope's blessing. Today its influence has sharply declined:

Financial scandals. The Vatican Bank has been involved in numerous corruption investigations, such as the Banco Ambrosiano case.

Loss of land power. Once the church owned vast territories, now its wealth lies in assets, but control over them is weakening.

Competition with other elites. Modern global elites (financial, technological) no longer need papal blessing.

Will the Vatican be the last?

There is an old prophecy of Saint Malachius stating that after the 112th Pope, the Roman Church will fall. The current pontiff is the 266th (if counting from Apostle Peter), but if considering only the official list, he is the 130th.

The Vatican's main problem is not external enemies but internal degradation. If the Church continues down the path of "convenient" liberalism, it may become another interest group - but it will no longer be a spiritual authority.

Some experts (in the field of religion) see further development of Catholicism in promoting it to the African continent. As they note, Europe, the traditional stronghold of Catholicism, is rapidly secularizing (becoming secular). Meanwhile, the number of believers in Africa is growing. But Africa is the last stronghold. If Catholicism starts to weaken there, there will be no new territories left.

Rome is not giving up its attempts to expand to the East. The Vatican historically sought to weaken Orthodoxy (Uniatism, pressure on Ukraine). But now this is difficult due to the conflict with Moscow and Constantinople.

After the election of the new Roman Pope, ‘The Vatican began to change and completely restructure itself.

Pope Leo XIV, elected in May 2025, stated from the first days of his pontificate on the need for the renewal of the Catholic Church.

On July 22, 2025, the media (the London magazine The Tablet) reported that Pope Leo XIV would continue the work of his predecessor, Pope Francis, in reforming the Roman Curia.

Pope Leo will announce reforms to the Roman Curia in the fall, Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, Primate of the Catholics in England and Wales, predicted at the end of July, stating that one of the reasons for the election of Cardinal Preve as Pope was his deep knowledge of managing the Catholic Church from within.

Soon, Vincent Nicholas' prediction was confirmed. Pope Leo XIV's main goals were to simplify liturgical practices, draw closer to other denominations, and adapt to modern challenges.

A significant step in this direction was the abolition of 12 religious rituals deemed outdated or hindering ecumenical dialogue. These changes garnered both support and criticism within the church.

Leo XIV's reforms reflect his desire to make the Catholic Church more open, inclusive, and modern. In his speeches, he repeatedly emphasized the need to "build bridges, not walls". These changes are also aimed at:

• Strengthening ecumenical dialogue with Orthodox and Protestant churches.
• Reducing bureaucracy and financial costs.
• Adapting to the needs of believers in the 21st century.

At the same time, the pope's decisions elicited mixed reactions.

• Progressive circles welcome the simplification of liturgy and emphasis on dialogue.
• Conservatives criticize deviations from traditions, warning of the risk of "blurring the identity" of Catholicism. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew supported the changes, calling them "a step towards Christian unity".

Pope Francis continues his predecessor's course of modernizing the church. His reforms aim to make Catholicism more accessible and relevant in today's world. Although these changes are controversial, they reflect the inevitable evolution of religious practice in response to the challenges of the times. The future will show how these steps strengthen church unity and its role on a global scale.

Pope Leo XIV expressed last year (2025) a willingness to have a serious conversation with the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church. According to the National Catholic Register, in the first decade of November, the Vatican's Secretariat sent out short notices to the cardinals. The notices stated that the pontiff intends to convene an extraordinary (emergency) consistory on January 7-8, 2026. In the coming weeks, Dean of the College of Cardinals Giovanni Battista Re was to inform the invitees of the details - presumably the topics Leo XIV intends to discuss.

Critics of Francis see in the convocation of an extraordinary consistory by Leo XIV a change in direction and style. Pope Prest during his sermon at St. Peter's Basilica compared the church to a construction site, stating that synodality (which Francis has sought) - it is not decisions made once and for all, but constant work, discussion, and practical testing. Many heard in this a call for true collegiality in church governance, for considering all opinions. Conservatives also had other reasons to think that the new pope heard them. Francis dealt very harshly with supporters of the old Latin Mass. It can be celebrated with the consent of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments. Meanwhile, Leo XIV allowed Cardinal Raymond Burke, the pope's chief critic, to celebrate such a mass in St. Peter's Basilica. According to some reports, the pope does not plan to overturn his predecessor's institutions, but has asked (or already asked) the Prefect of the Congregation, Cardinal Arthur Roche, to be more lenient when traditionalists make requests.

After the consistory, the Pope expressed his gratitude to all cardinals for their participation in the January consistory, highlighting the productive work in the synodal working groups. He emphasizes that this experience became a "precious heritage" that must be carefully preserved and developed.

Special attention in the message is given to the apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium, which remains a decisive guideline for the life of the Church. It is not just about new ideas, but also about returning to kerygma - the heart of Christian faith. According to the Pope, this became a genuine "new breath" capable of launching processes of pastoral and missionary renewal.

King Francis XIV emphasizes that this missionary perspective encompasses all levels of church life. On a personal level, every believer is called to move from "received" faith to a living experience of encountering Christ; at the community level, from pastoral activity focused on maintaining established forms to missionary renewal, where communities become open, able to listen, accompany, and heal. At the diocesan level, special responsibility lies with the shepherds, who must foster missionary courage and assist in discerning what is most important.

From these reflections, a holistic understanding of the Church's mission emerges: it arises from encountering Christ and spreads not through conquest but through attraction. The Pope stresses: the goal of mission is not self-preservation but to transmit the love with which God loved the world.

Among specific directives, the Pope highlights the need to reinterpret Evangelii gaudium, renew paths into Christian life, give new meaning to pastoral visits, and strengthen the missionary character of church communication.

But this was only the beginning of the reforms being carried out by Pope Leo XIV, which are accompanied by serious issues, largely related to complex international relations and breaking out wars and conflicts.

Already this year (April 8, 2026) in the forecast: "Deep-seated processes influencing current global events, including the Vatican" S. Dragans notes: "And what do we see, that it's not all that simple in this 'kingdom' (Vatican) and complexities began already in 2025. But in February 2026, a kind of warning sound rang."

And at the same time, she predicts:

It (the signal) hints at the waning power of the Vatican's old authority. And one of the most significant stars, named Kaf, is under fire and will remain so, effectively annihiling the old power and even its financial foundation... But before that happens, around 11.04.26, we will see an attempt to strengthen this organization (the Vatican). And the events that will unfold and are even described... to some extent in previous forecasts, will correlate with events that remain behind the scenes, more precisely, an attempt to coordinate them...

(to be continued in Part 2)