Vatican City, Jun 14, 2017 / 06:31 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis and the Council of Cardinals held their 20th round of meetings in Rome this week, continuing their work on reform of the Roman Curia, including their discussion of ways the Curia can better serve local churches.
According to a June 14 communique, the meetings largely continued the work of previous gatherings, including progress on the possibility of transferring some faculties from Vatican dicasteries to local bishops or episcopal conferences “in a spirit of healthy decentralization.”
Proposals also considered ways in which the Curia could deepen service to the local churches, as well as widen the scope of those consulted in the proposal of candidates for bishop appointments to include more lay people and members of consecrated life.
Taking place at the Vatican June 12-14, all nine members were present for the five sessions of meetings, with the exception of Cardinal Sean O’Malley. Pope Francis was present except for Wednesday morning during the general audience, as is ordinary.
As during their meetings in April, the cardinals continued their inspection of texts proposed for submission to Pope Francis on the dicasteries for Interreligious Dialogue, Eastern Churches, Legislative Texts, and the three courts of the Roman Curia: the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Apostolic Signatura, and the Roman Rota.
The Apostolic Penitentiary is the tribunal in charge of cases involving excommunication and serious sins, including those whose absolution is reserved to the Holy See, while the Signatura functions as a sort of Supreme Court. The Rota, for its part, is akin to a court of appeals or court of “last instance,” and is also where marriage nullity cases are judged.
They also made further considerations on various departments, in particular the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Cardinal George Pell gave an update on the Secretariat for the Economy. “Particular attention has been paid to the steps taken in the process of planning the economic resources and the monitoring of the financial plans for the first quarter of 2017, which substantially confirmed, with few exceptions, the budget data,” the communique stated.
Cardinal Pell reported that they will soon begin the process of planning the budget for 2018 and monitoring the second quarter of 2017.
Head of the Vatican Secretariat for Communications, Bishop Dario Edoardo Viganò reported on the state of the reform of the Holy See communications. In his presentation he highlighted the positive economic and managerial performance of the Secretariat.
He also explained the projects under the new communication system, formed by Pope Francis in June 2015, saying that they are in line with the Pope’s words during his audience at the dicastery’s first plenary May 3-5.
Established by Pope Francis shortly after his pontificate began in 2013, the Council of Cardinals serves as an advisory body on Church governance and reform, with special emphasis on the reform of Pastor bonus, the apostolic constitution which governs the Roman Curia.
Keywords that have come out of the cardinals’ meetings so far and which have emerged as guiding principles for the ongoing Curial reform are harmonization, simplification, synodality, and the Church’s “missionary drive.”
The council of cardinals is set to meet again September 11-13 to continue discussion on moving forward in reforming curial structures.
Article Archive
In latest meetings, cardinal advisors continue forward with reform
Related Articles • More Articles
Pope Francis waves while traveling by boat in Venice, Italy, for a meeting with young people at the Basilica della Madonna della Salute on April 28, 2024. Earlier in the day he met with inmates at a women's prison. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).Pope Francis opened his one-day visit to Venice on Sunday morning with a meeting with female inmates where he reaffirmed the importance of fraternity and human dignity, noting that prison can be a place of new beginnings. "A stay in prison can mark the beginning of something new, through the rediscovery of the unsuspected beauty in us and in others, as symbolized by the artistic event you are hosting and the project to which you actively contribute," the pope said to the female inmates gathered in the intimate courtyard of the Women's Prison on the Island of Giudecca. Pope Francis left the Vatican by helicopter at approximately 6:30 in the mo...
Pope Francis prays in front of the tomb of St. Mark the Evangelist inside St. Mark's Basilica in Venice on April 28, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 09:35 am (CNA).Pope Francis had a full slate of events Sunday during his day trip to Venice, a trip that tied together a message of unity and fraternity with the artistic patrimony of a city that has been a privileged place of encounter across the centuries. "Faith in Jesus, the bond with him, does not imprison our freedom. On the contrary, it opens us to receive the sap of God's love, which multiplies our joy, takes care of us like a skilled vintner, and brings forth shoots even when the soil of our life becomes arid," the pope said to over 10,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Mark's Square. Framing his homily during the Mass on the theme of unity, one of the central points articulated throughout several audiences spread across the morning, Pope Francis reminded Christians: "Remaining ...
Prayer house at San Simeone, Italy, September 2012. / Credit: Courtesy of Ricostruttori nella preghieraRome, Italy, Apr 28, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Across Italy there are houses of prayer run by the Ricostruttori (Reconstructors) community, a Catholic movement dedicated to people who are far from the Church but attracted to spirituality, particularly Eastern meditation and Buddhist practices. The Reconstructors was founded in 1978 by Jesuit Father Gian Vittorio Cappelletto. "During the postconciliar period, the Church was faced with the need for new forms of evangelization and apostolate, to reach out to people who were drifting away," Don Roberto Rondanina, priest and superior of the Ricostruttori, explained to CNA. "It was a time when Eastern meditation, Hinduism, Buddhism, the New Age ... were beginning to spread in Europe." "Father Cappelletto, who lived in Turin, sought to understand the meaning of this 'flight to the East' and felt the need to find new forms of sp...