Greg Burke, Director of the Holy See Press Office, has reiterated that Pope Francis and the Council of Cardinals are continuing to discuss curial reform.
During a briefing held this afternoon in the Holy See Press Office, the Vatican spokesman informed journalists about the 19th Session of the “Council of Cardinals,” often called the “C9,” which began Monday and ends this afternoon in the Vatican.
Director Burke noted that the Pope participated in all, but this morning’s meeting, due to his weekly General Audience.
The working sessions were held in the morning from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm, and in the afternoon, from 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm, and were dedicated to further considerations on several dicasteries of the Curia, in particular, the discussion continued on the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Propaganda Fide), and on the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization.
The Cardinals also studied texts proposed by the Holy Father regarding the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts; and three tribunals: the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura and the Tribunal of the Roman Rota.
During these days, the council also studied the selection and formation of staff at the service of the Holy See, laymen and clergymen. Participating were officials and superiors of the State Secretariat, of the Council for the Economy, and of the Labor Office of the Apostolic See (ULSA).
Present for the State Secretariat were Archbishop Angelo Becciu, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher and Monsignor Jan Romeo Pawlowski. Intervening for the Council for the Economy, in addition to Cardinal Reinhard Marx, was Professor Franco Vermiglio, member of the same council. Reporting to the Cardinals for ULSA were Monsignor Giorgio Corbellini and lawyer Salvatore Vecchio.
Another important topic addressed by the C9, the Vatican spokesman noted, was the relation between the Episcopal Conferences and the Roman Curia.
Cardinal George Pell gave an update on the work of the Secretariat for the Economy presided by him, with special attention to the monitoring of last year’s budget.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley updated the Council on the work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, with particular attention to the programs of global education, the last Plenary Meeting and the visit to several Dicasteries.
The Council of Cardinals consists 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; Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State.
The next session of the Council of Cardinals is scheduled for June 12-14.
