The latest diplomatic coup for Pope Francis I—whose papacy has been marked by an ever-more expansive foreign policy—is the announcement of an interesting development in relations between the Roman Catholic and the Russian Orthodox churches, relations that have been more-or-less non-existent for more than 1000 years.

For the second time in four years, the Vatican has been plunged into crisis by the publication of books exposing not only the battles for power within its hallowed walls, but also the misbehavior of staff members of the Roman curia, the governing bureaucracy of the Roman Catholic Church.