Mags GarganPope Francis’ international Council of Cardinals has begun major reform of the Vatican bureaucracy
Pope Francis' international Council of Cardinals has begun creating the first draft of a new apostolic constitution that would implement a major reform of the Vatican bureaucracy.
The so-called C9, a papally appointed group of nine cardinal members, held its sixth meeting Sept 15-17 with Pope Francis at the Vatican to help advise him on the reform of the Vatican's organisation and Church governance.
Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters September 17 that the series of discussions have now begun a more "concrete" phase with "putting ink on paper" in the form of a draft for the introduction to a new constitution.
"It may be assumed that, with the next two meetings of the council – December 9-11, 2014, and February 9-11, 2015 – the draft constitution will reach an advanced stage of preparation, making it possible for the pope to proceed with further consultations," the priest said in a written statement.
First step
In a first step toward reorganising the Roman Curia, Pope Francis created the Secretariat for the Economy in February as a way to begin universal oversight and standards for all of the Vatican's financial assets and activities.
Fr Lombardi told reporters that the cardinals' discussions concerning financial issues have concluded, and that they now resumed looking at the different pontifical councils of the curia, as part of a bigger strategy of finding the most effective and efficient way to reorganize the large bureaucracy.
In their three days of talks and study, the nine cardinals "focused on two principle hotspots," the Vatican spokesman said.