32nd Meeting of Council of Cardinals Concludes

The 32nd meeting of the Council of Cardinals has just concluded in the Vatican. The C9, as the group was commonly called, is now being termed by many as the C6, following the dismissal of three of its members during the last meeting in December 2018. The Council is studying the plans for reforming the Apostolic Constitution “Pastor Bonus” on the Roman Curia.

Today, Dec. 4, Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, issued a statement about the meeting that began Monday morning and concluded today, Wednesday.

The Council of Cardinals consisted of the following nine prelates: Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State; Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, archbishop emeritus of Santiago, Chile; Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay; Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich; Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo; Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, archbishop of Boston; Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy (not present, in Australia); Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State.

However, now there are six cardinal members, as Chilean Cardinal Errazuriz resigned from the Council on Nov. 14, 2018. The Pope has thanked him, Cardinal George Pell and Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya for their service.

Also present with the ‘C6’ in these days, were the Secretary of the Council, Msgr. Marcello Semeraro, and the Assistant Secretary, Msgr. Marco Mellino.

The working sessions were held in the morning from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and in the afternoon, from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., and were dedicated to further considerations on several dicasteries of the Curia.

The Holy Father, as usual, participated in the work, even though he was absent this morning for the General Audience and for some commitments.

The Council’s activity, the Vatican statement noted, was aimed at deepening important aspects of the draft of the new Apostolic Constitution, including relations between the Curia and the Episcopal Conferences and the presence of the lay faithful, men and women, in decision-making roles in the offices of the Curia and other organisms of the Church.

It also explored studing the theological-pastoral bases of these aspects.

Furthermore, Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, gave a report to the council on the work of the Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Pan-Amazonian Region. The Council also was able to reflect on the elaboration of the post-synodal document in the light of some considerations offered by Cardinal O ‘ Malley.

«Cardinal Marx illustrated the ways in which the next Synod Journey (‘Cammino Synodale’) will take place in Germany and the topics on which the work will focus.» the statement added.

«From September until a few days before this session began, some suggestions continued to arrive on the text of the new Apostolic Constitution, whose reading and evaluation will continue in the next session of February 2020,» the Vatican statement concluded.

The next Meeting of the Council of Cardinals will take place next year.