Cardinal Parolin, Secretary of State, added to Council of Cardinals

July 02, 2014

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State, has been added to the Council of Cardinals, the Vatican has disclosed.

Cardinal Parolin has been “regularly present” in meetings of the Council this week, Father Federico Lombardi told reporters on July 2. The director of the Vatican press office added that Pope Francis had “established that [Cardinal Parolin] will participate fully like the other members of the Council.” The Council of Cardinals, established by Pope Francis to provide him with advice on reforms at the Vatican, had previously included eight members, and was informally known as the Vatican’s own “G8.” With the addition of Cardinal Parolin it is now the “G9.” Cardinal Parolin had not yet become Secretary of State—and was not yet a cardinal—when the “G8” group was originally created. He assumed his role as Secretary of State, the Vatican’s 2nd-ranking official, last October, and received his red hat from Pope Francis in February. The original members of the Council of Cardinals are:

• Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, the coordinator of the group;
• Cardinal Bertello; president of the Governorate of Vatican city-state;
• Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, the retired Archbishop of Santiago de Chile;
• Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay, India;
• Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich, Germany;
• Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo;
• Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley of Boston; and
• Cardinal George Pell, who was the Archbishop of Sydney, Australia and now heads the newly established Secretariat for the Economy.

 

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Further information:

• Meeting of the Council of Cardinals (VIS)