Reforms Continue As Cardinals Review Merits of Pontifical Councils

By James Macintyre
The Tablet
April 30, 2014

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/734/0/reforms-continue-as-cardinals-review-merits-of-pontifical-councils

Pope Francis’ hand-picked group of eight cardinals pressed on with its sweeping programme of Vatican reforms this week.

The so-called C8, who are advising Pope Francis on reforming the governance of the Church, met earlier this week after the historic dual canonisations of John XXIII and John Paul II, which were concelebrated with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on what became dubbed “the day of four popes”.

At the cardinals’ three-day meeting – their fourth since October – they appraised the work of the 12 pontifical councils. The Pope attended most of the meetings and the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, participated regularly, the Vatican said.

“There is still much work to be done, and it is therefore to be expected that it will be completed not this year, but instead during the next,” the Vatican said, suggesting that the scale of the task is larger than initially thought.

The council has already reviewed the work of Vatican’s nine congregations, with much emphasis on reforming financial structures, and on Tuesday heard from Maltese banker Joseph F.X. Zahra, the head of an office Francis established last July to critique the Vatican’s organisational and economic issues.

At the end of this week two bodies set up as a result of the C8’s deliberations were to hold their first meetings: the Secretariat for the Economy and a Vatican commission to advise on safeguarding and abuse issues. The Secretariat for the Economy will meet for the first time on Friday, 2 May in the Apostolic Palace. During the all-day meeting it is expected to focus on the statutes of the Council itself.

Pope Francis is due to meet members of the Commission for the Protection of Minors at the start of its three-day meeting, which begins on Thursday at the Domus Sancta Marthae. The first meeting is expected to determine its scope and how to function as an international Commission.