A shocking new piece of information comes to us from Germany, from the website Katholisches.info, which is principally run by the well-informed Vatican expert and loyal Catholic layman, Giuseppe Nardi. He reported on 18 November that Pope Francis has decided to re-write the statutes of the Pontifical Academy for Life in a way which essentially re-makes this organization.

Relying on a 5 November 2016 report published by the German branch of Vatican Radio, called Radio Vatikan, Nardi has published the new statutes of the Academy. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia was appointed as the new head of this Dicastery in August of 2016, which in itself signaled a change of direction for the Academy. Now, as Nardi reports, with these new statutes, all current members will be removed and a new set of up to seventy members will be installed.

As the new statutes say, these new members will be appointed independently of religious…