The curious case of Ariel Alberto Principi came to light earlier this month, when the Secretariat of State, citing an "extraordinary procedure," informed Argentine bishops that the penalty of laicization, imposed by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), had been rescinded.
(At the time Phil Lawler, the editor of CWNews, commented: "It is difficult to imagine that in this case, Archbishop Peña Parra would have rescinded the priest’s laicization without having discussed the case with Pope Francis.")
Shortly thereafter, Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy, who heads the disciplinary section of the DDF, announced that the message from the Secretariat of State was void, since his office had exclusive authority to handle sex-abuse cases, and the laicization of Principi was confirmed.
In an October 19 interview, Archbishop Filippo Iannone, the prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, said that the Secretariat of State does have authority to speak on abuse cases, if it is relaying messages from appropriate Vatican authorities.
Since Pope Francis alone would have the authority to overrule a decision by the DDF in a sex-abuse case, the archbishop's statement appeared to suggest that the Pontiff had involved himself in the Principi controversy.
If so, the Pope apparently reversed his own judgment, allowing Archbishop Kennedy to re-assert the judgment of the DDF and confirm the disciplinary action.