Boring Jurist-Administrator as Fig Leave - While Bad Francis' Secretary Runs the Dicastery
Archbishop Iannone is a Curia Prefect whom Pope Francis did not make a cardinal.
The Real Man in Charge is Bad News
However, Pope Leo XIV also confirmed Archbishop Ilson de Jesus Montanari, 66, as secretary of the Congregation for Bishops for another five-year term. Blog.MessaInLatino.it bluntly calls this appointment “bad news”.
Pope Francis appointed the long-serving Brazilian secretary already in October 2013. He served as shadow prefect under the conservative Cardinal Ouellet and became known as Francis’ man, spy and operator.
Secretary Montanari is rumoured to have been the man in charge of the Dicastery also under Cardinal Prevost (2023–2025).
Biographical Dates of Archbishop Iannone
Filippo Iannone was born in Naples in 1957. He entered the Carmelite Order in 1977, took his vows in 1980 and was ordained a priest in 1982.
He holds doctorates in civil and canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University, and received further training at the Roman Rota.
In 2001, he became Naples' auxiliary bishop — at the time, Italy's youngest bishop — and later served as vicegerent of the Diocese of Rome from 2012 to 2017.
A Man of Loyalty, Not Competence
On 11 November 2017, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Iannone as adjunct secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. This position had not been filled since 2000.
On 7 April 2018, he became President of the same body. In this promotion, Pope Francis bypassed Archbishop Guillermo Rojas Arrieta, the department's long-serving secretary, who was expected to be appointed president.
Monsignor Iannone took over the role of president/prefect from Cardinal Coccopalmerio, who had been accused of taking part in homosexual orgies involving drugs.
Some observers contend that Secretary Arrieta handles most of the dicastery’s technical and scholarly assessments, while Archbishop Iannone acts more as a non-executive figurehead.
German "Synodal Path" - Intervention in 2019
In September 2019, Archbishop Iannone signed the four-page legal assessment that accompanied Cardinal Marc Ouellet’s warning letter to the bishops of Germany about the 'Synodal Path'.
Iannone’s note argued that the German synodal assembly lacked the competence to decide on matters that bind the universal Church, explicitly citing areas such as sexual morality, priestly life, governance and structures, and the role of women. It also stated that the process would be 'not ecclesiologically valid' if it aimed to change doctrine or universal discipline.
Not Publishing Names of “Credibly Accused” Clergy
In September 2024, both Archbishop Iannone and Archbishop Arrieta informed bishops that diocesan lists of clergy 'credibly accused' of abuse cannot generally be made public. Such lists may infringe rights relating to reputation.
The letter cites presumption of innocence, non-retroactivity and the low standards of diocesan 'credibility' findings.
While this move was just, it also helped to protect abusive homosexual clergy, which was important to Pope Francis.
Incompetent Canon Lawyer (2024)
In October 2024, the U.S. bishops' canon law chair circulated a reply from Archbishop Iannone, stating that the Feast of the Immaculate Conception 'must be observed as a day of obligation on the day to which it is transferred'. This meant that Monday, 9 December 2024, would be a day of obligation in the US, despite earlier calendars suggesting otherwise.
However, Canon law allows episcopal conferences to regulate such obligations.
On 23 January 2025, the Dicastery for Divine Worship issued an official note correcting Archbishop Iannone, clarifying that when a holy day is transferred, the obligation does not transfer, effectively superseding the earlier guidance.
Archbishop Iannone had misrepresented canon law.
'Spiritual abuse' crime project with Tucho and Francis (2024–25)
In late 2024, Pope Francis asked the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Cardinal "Tucho" Fernández) to collaborate with the Dicastery for Legislative Texts (Archbishop Iannone) to define "spiritual abuse" as a distinct canonical crime.
The group studied cases where spiritual authority or 'false mysticism' manipulates consciences and drafted concrete norms, including the elements of the offence, procedures and penalties.
Insinuating that Francis Personally Ordered Rehabilitation of Child Abuser
Another intervention came in the case of Argentine priest Ariel Alberto Príncipi. He was convicted of abusing minors by ecclesiastical tribunals in Córdoba (2023) and Buenos Aires (2024), after which he was laicised.
However, in September 2024, the Secretariat of State, via Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, invoked an 'extraordinary procedure' to reinstate him. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith nullified this decision and reaffirmed the laicisation.
Archbishop Iannone told VaticanNews.va that abuse cases fall exclusively to the Congregation, and that any 'extraordinary' review must be specially entrusted. The interview implied that the Secretariat of State's attempt had required Pope Francis's personal authorisation.
Baptismal Register Guidance (2025)
In April 2025, Archbishop Iannone issued an explanatory note clarifying that baptismal entries constitute a 'foundational historical fact' and may therefore not be altered or deleted, except in cases of transcription error.
This was in response to requests to erase or rewrite registers because of gender delusions.
Picture: Filippo Iannone, Ilson de Jesus Montanari, #newsAjdaaroerd