The Engine of Curia Reform Is Warming up

By Andrea Tornielli
Vatican Insider
September 17, 2013

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/curia-papa-pope-el-papa-27913/


The Council of eight cardinals meets with the Pope between 1 and 3 October. All heads of Holy See dicasteries have presented proposals

The programme for the meeting of eight cardinals in charge of advising the Pope on the “government of the universal Church” and studying " a project of revision of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor bonus on the Roman Curia” has been set. But before the three-day work session with Francis (1-3 October) begins, next week cardinals will hold a number of informal meetings to set straight as many details as possible and make the meetings in which the Pope will actually be present, more fruitful.

Readers will recall that last 13 April, exactly a month after his election to the papacy, Bergoglio appointed a group of eight cardinals from across all continents: Giuseppe Bertello (the group's only Italian Curia member), Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa (the group’s only emeritus member), Oswald Gracias, Reinhard Marx, Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, Sean Patrick O’Malley, George Pell and Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga. Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga is also the group coordinator, while Marcello Semeraro, Bishop of Albano (Italy), will function as secretary.

Over the past few months, cardinals have been in touch with one another, bouncing ideas and suggestions off each other and above all, collecting material and requests from their respective Episcopates. But the Pope’s closest collaborators, the members of the Roman Curia were not excluded from this process either. All heads of dicasteries presented reform proposals or at least proposals to improve coordination between Curia offices and their activities. At last Tuesday’s inter-dicasterial meeting, convened by Francis, everyone present gave a summary of the proposals given. So the Curia itself is playing a key part in the global rethinking of its activities.

There are two main issues the group of eight cardinals is set to discuss with the Pope. The first is to do with some questions relating to Church life: collegiality, the relationship between the central Church in Rome and local Churches and between the Curia and Episcopal Conferences and the potential reform of the Synod of Bishops. Episcopates from across all continents have gathered heaps of material, requests and suggestions regarding this issue.

The second big issue is the reform of the Roman Curia, which does not include the reform of the Vatican bank (IOR). The IOR issue is something the group of eight cardinals will not be dealing with directly as there is another commission in charge of this, headed by Cardinal Raffaele Farina. The ideas being discussed include streamlining the Curia which has often been seen as a central government body of the Church instead of a body there to assist the Bishop of Rome in his universal ministry. The streamlining process could involve the merging of some pontifical councils (some of these could, for example, could be merged into a new Congregation for the Laity). The Secretariat of State’s structure is another issue.

During their meeting with the Pope, the eight cardinals will also have to decide whether to create a new role, that of the moderator curiae, as proposed by Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio. There are others who are in favour of this. Such a figure would share the Vatican Secretariat of State’s responsibilities in that the latter would be in charge of international relations, while the moderator curiae would have the task of coordinating the Curia. But some have pointed out that streamlining should mean doing away with certain positions and roles, not adding new ones.

Aside from collegiality, the relationship between centre and periphery and the reform of the Roman Curia, another emerging issue is pastoral care for marriage. During the press conference on the return flight to Rome after World Youth Day in Rio, Francis answered a question about remarried divorcees, saying: “I believe that we need to look at this within the larger context of the entire pastoral care of marriage. And so … one of the themes to be examined with the eight members of the Council of Cardinals with whom I will meet on 1-3 October is how to move forward in the pastoral care of marriage, and this problem will come up there.” The Pope also added that the pastoral care of marriage was an issue that should have been examined further in a Synod.