Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Advisory group will not weaken Pope’s power, analyst explains

Advisory group will not weaken Pope’s power, analyst explains

Last updated on: April 16, 2013 at 7:28 pm by CNA Daily News

Advisory group will not weaken Pope’s power, analyst explains 2013-04-16T19:28:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Vatican City, Apr 16, 2013 / 01:28 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Although some have worried Pope Francis’ creation of a group of cardinals to advise him means he is giving up some of his papal authority, an expert in Church law says a better description of the move is choosing the members of a cabinet.

Paolo Gherri, who teaches the Theology of Canon Law at the Pontifical Lateran University, told CNA in an April 16 interview that he believes Pope Francis “has in some ways chosen the ministers of his administration.”

“The eight cardinals are intended to decide the institutional-political line,” he asserted.

“After that, there will be probably a number of experts to determine the way this line can be put into effect.”

Gherri bases his analysis on a series of observations.

First of all, the choice of the commission is significant as far as Church policy is concerned.

All eight of the cardinals who were selected are residential archbishops, meaning that none of them work in the Roman Curia, the Vatican-based administration that assists the Pope in carrying out his ministry.

Also noteworthy is that only one of them is Italian – Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello – the head of the Vatican City State’s administration, and none of them is a canon law expert, which seems like a necessary skill for developing a reform plan.

It is also evident that “Pope Francis chose people with his same kind of approach,” Gherri said.

Their appointment is an “institutionalization” of a working group of like-minded prelates, he explained, adding that the move communicates “there is a sort of think tank working on new guidelines of ecclesiastical policy.”

But when it comes to how the reform will be carried out, no one is really sure what that will look like.

The debate on how to solve the Curia’s problems is split between those who maintain that the effort of the Holy See as an international body must not be underestimated, and those who underline that diplomacy is secondary and not part of announcing the Gospel.

The collaborator of a cardinal who took part in the conclave revealed in an April 15 conversation with CNA that “the pre-conclave meetings also dealt with the role and function of the Secretariat of State.”

According to the same source, some cardinals pushed for “a new organization to govern the Church.”

They proposed creating two papal secretaries: one that would handle the administration of the Church and one that would manage international relations and in some ways be detached from the central government of the Church.

Currently, the State Secretariat is divided into two sections: the Section for General Affairs and the Section for Relations with States, known as the First Section and Second Section, respectively.

Ways to improve the Curia’s efficiency were also suggested during the pre-conclave meetings.

Several sources agree that Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, put forth a proposal to create a moderator of the Curia (moderator curiae), a prelate who would identify inefficiencies within the Curia and work for a solution.

The idea was widely appreciated by the cardinals since many of them have experienced how slowly Rome responds to their requests and how the Curia’s bureaucracy can stall procedures for months.

But Gherri cautioned that it is “not time to outline how the eight cardinals on the advisory board will act” to reform the Curia, and what their meeting will be about.

The Pope “can bring into effect the Curia reform through an infinite range of jurisdictional choices,” Gherri explained.

“He could write a four-line motu proprio letter abolishing the current form of the Roman Curia or he could issue a more structured apostolic pastoral constitution that “rearranges the whole ‘geography’ of the offices.”

The eight cardinals will have their first meeting with Pope Francis on October 1.

In the meantime, the Vatican’s April 13 official communiqué on the group underlined that the Pope is keeping in touch with them.

Vatican

Previous Post

April 16, 2013

Benedict XVI receives birthday greetings from Pope Francis

Next Post

April 16, 2013 Slain Catholic boy remembered by Boston community

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many loaves in the feeding miracle?

Select your answer to see how you score.

3 7 12 5