The church, a national cultural landmark confiscated during the Soviet era, remains state-owned but will now function primarily as a parish church.

In this in-between stretch of Ordinary Time, between the high feast of Christmas and the solemn preparation of Lent, we find ourselves in a new place as we settle into the New Year.

By all appearances, January's consistory was a first step to returning to a more collegial sense of governance that has largely marked the exercise of papal ministry since the Second Vatican Council.