Council of Cardinals will discuss ‘healthy decentralization’ of Church governance
December 14, 2015
The Council of Cardinals-- the body established by Pope Francis in 2013 to consider curial reform and assist him in the governance of the universal Church-- concluded its twelfth meeting on December 12.
Pope Francis and all of the Council’s members attended each of the meeting’s sessions, which began on December 10.
Following the conclusion of the meeting, Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Holy See Press Office, said that the Council “emphasized the importance of the Holy Father’s discourse of 17 October, on the occasion of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the institution of the Synod of Bishops.”
“In this discourse the Pope extensively developed the theme of ‘synodality’ but also recalled the importance of proceeding with a healthy decentralization,” Father Lombardi continued. “The Council remarked on the need to further explore the meaning of this discourse and its importance in the work of reforming the Curia, and agreed to dedicate a specific session to this during the next meeting in February 2016.”
Father Lombardi also said that during the December 10-12 meeting
- Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, presented a report on his dicastery;
- the Council presented a proposal to the Pope on the new dicastery devoted to laity, family, and life and discussed a dicastery devoted to justice, peace, and migrations;
- Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the Council for the Economy, and Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat of the Economy, spoke about Vatican economic reforms;
- Cardinal Seán O’Malley discussed the work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
The Council of Cardinals will meet five times in 2016.
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Further information:
- Briefing del Direttore della Sala Stampa della Santa Sede sulla XII Riunione del Consiglio di Cardinali (10-12 dicembre 2015), 12.12.2015 (Holy See Press Office)
- Council of Cardinals meeting this week with Pontiff to continue planning for Vatican reforms (CWN, 12/10)
- Briefing on the meeting of the cardinal-councillors 2015.12.12 (YouTube Vatican)
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Posted by: feedback -
Dec. 15, 2015 9:35 AM ET USA
The Protestants have decentralization. And it doesn't look healthy at all.
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Posted by: koinonia -
Dec. 15, 2015 8:10 AM ET USA
If one looks to Matt 16:18 and to Vatican I the words "healthy decentralization" seem to be a succinct contradiction. The bishop of Rome is the Vicar of Christ, and this centralization of authority has been essential since Peter's testimony at Caesarea Philippi. It's ironic that in these times of illusion it's often those popularly characterized as most rebellious that are actually the most vociferous defenders of the authority of the supreme pontiff as understood for so many centuries.
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Posted by: FredC -
Dec. 14, 2015 8:13 PM ET USA
My understanding is that 4000 bishops report directly to the pope. That's decentralization! In addition, 100 priests report to their bishop and each priest is responsible for 2000 lay people.
