VATICAN UPDATE, 30TH SEPTEMBER,2013. Francis officially establishes “Council of Cardinals” to advise on Church government and Curia reform Francis officially establishes his G8 group of advisors FRANCIS OFFICIALLY ESTABLISHES HIS G8 GROUP OF ADVISORS Francis has issued a chirograph officially establishing the eight-member Council of Cardinals to help him govern the Church and reform the Roman Curia ANDREA TORNIELLI ROME Francis has issued a papal chirograph officially announcing the establishment of his “G8”, the group of eight cardinals who will have the task of advising the Pope on the government of the universal Church and the revision of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus on the Roman Curia. The document published today and dated 28 September, mentions the discussions held during the pre-Conclave General Congregations: “Among the suggestions that emerged during the course of the General Congregations of Cardinals prior to the Conclave, was the convenience in instituting a small group of Members of the Episcopate, from different parts of the world, that the Holy Father could consult with, either individually or collectively, on particular issues,” the chirograph reads. In the chirograph, Francis states: “Now, after mature reflection, I consider it opportune, through this Chirograph, to officially institute as a Council of Cardinals ‘, whose task is to help in the government of the universal Church and to study a draft revision of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor bonus on the Roman Curia.” The Pope confirmed that the council “will be composed of the same persons mentioned above and may be consulted, both individually and as a Council, on matters I feel worthy of attention. Said Council, the number of components of which I reserve the right to configure as deemed adequate, will be a further expression of Episcopal communion and auxiliary service that the Bishops around the world can offer to munus petrinum.” The details of the council’s structure have therefore not yet been defined. Since it is a new advisory institution (council), adjustments will be made along the way as needed. The Pope confirmed what he said on a number of occasions and that is, that the more direct involvement of certain members of the Episcopate in advising the Bishop of Rome was something that had been requested during the pre-Conclave discussions. The council only has one Italian member, Cardinal Bertello, who is President of the Vatican City Governorate. The rest are cardinal archbishops of various dioceses across the five continents. Only one of these is Emeritus. The council will not only be addressing the reform of the Roman Curia but will also be responsible for advising on the government of the universal Church. The “G8” will function as a group but members may also be consulted “individually” on matters he deems as important. The chirograph makes no mention of relations with other institutions which is further proof that it is still an open structure in the making, whose purpose is simply to advise and help the Pope. “It will boost the instruments already in place,” said the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi in a press conference. “You will recall that advice is also given in various meetings such as the meeting of heads of Curia dicasteries and the commissions in charge of looking into the Church’s financial and administrative affairs, such as the Synod of Bishops. Then there are the bishops’ ad limina visits.” “Over the past months, the group of eight cardinals has been gathering proposals and notes from individual advisors working in their respective fields of expertise or directly from the Pope, or from the Roman Curia and the Secretary of State. About 80 documents have been gathered and circulated among the council’s members and its secretary, Bishop Marcelo Semeraro, who has prepared an initial summary.” The group’s various members, who are currently staying in St. Martha’s House, have already held several meetings with Pope Francis so the work in fact began some time ago. In recent days there were some informal meetings which the Pope did not attend. “There was a meeting on Saturday and there will be another one this afternoon,” Fr. Lombardi said. “Official meetings will take place in the private library near the entrance of the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace. The Pope will attend the meetings that will be held in the morning and in the evening.” Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Madariaga is in charge of coordinating the meetings. The Pope will give a very brief introduction but will mostly be just listening. Each of the eight cardinals will give their input on the various proposals put forth. “After this initial meeting, others will follow, so we cannot expect there to be any definitive conclusions, documents published or big decisions of any kind taken within the next few days.” The “G8|” and their work has nothing to do with the Pope’s pilgrimage to Assisi. “These cardinals are here so I have invited them on this pilgrimage. But the two events are not linked,” Fr. Lombardi said on the Pope’s behalf. No final communiqué is expected to be issued at the end of the council’s three-day meeting. Cardinal Maradiaga: the reform of the Roman Curia will be a long process Tweet Cardinal Maradiaga CARDINAL MARADIAGA The coordinator of the Group of 8 Cardinals set up by Pope Francis to advise him on the government of the Catholic Church and Reform of the Roman Curia, speaks about their task on the eve of their October 1-3 meeting GERARD OCONNELL ROME The Group of Eight Cardinals from all five continents chosen by Pope Francis to advise him on matters relating to the government of the Catholic Church and the reform of the Roman Curia will sit with him in the Vatican for their first plenary meeting from 1-3 October. They will also travel with him to Assisi on October 4, to pray at the tomb of St Francis. It will be the Groups’ first meeting with the Pope since the Vatican announced its establishment on April 13. But there will be other meetings in the future, the Group’s coordinator, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, stated in Quebec last week, in interviews with Canada’s Catholic television channel -“Salt and Light TV”. “There has to be a lot of discussion and a lot of discernment” about the reform of the Curia, he said; “it cannot be done in one month or two.” He predicted that “it will be a long process of discussion and discernment.” He recalled that there have been several reforms of the Roman Curia – the papal civil service, starting way back in the 16th century. More recently, Pope Pius X carried out one at the beginning of the 20th century, and Paul VI conducted another one after the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). John Paul II carried out the last such reform in 1989 and this resulted in the Constitution “Pastor Bonus” (The Good Shepherd) which formalized and codified that reform, Cardinal Maradiaga stated. He revealed that on March 17, four days after his election, Pope Francis invited him to lunch at Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse where he resides, and there told him that he was setting up the Group of 8 cardinals from all five continents and that he had chosen him to be the Group’s coordinator. The eight cardinals are: Laurent Monswengo Pasinya ( Democratic Republic of the Congo), Oswald Gracias (India), Reinhard Marx (Germany), Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa (Chile), Sean Patrick O’Malley (USA), Giuseppe Bertello (Roman Curia, an Italian), Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga (Coordinator of the Group, from Honduras). An Italian bishop, Marcello Semeraro, is the secretary of the Group. “He had everything in his mind then”, including “the name of the new Secretary of State”, Cardinal Maradiaga told Father Thomas Rosica, CEO of “Salt and Light TV” in a TV interview that was broadcast in Canada last evening, September 29. Since Pope Francis set up the Group, he said its members have been active, “collecting suggestions from all round the world.” Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa from Chile, for example, “has put together 80 pages of beautiful suggestions” from Latin America. Other sources say Cardinal Sean O’Malley (USA) consulted English speaking cardinals, while Maradiaga met with the Canadian Bishops Conference last week. As a result of these and other consultations, they “have put together” all the suggestions that they collected “around the main themes” and they discovered that “there is a convergence on many of the main subjects”. “One can say that this is the work of the Holy Spirit, not ours”, the cardinal said, given the convergence of so many suggestions from different parts of the world. A Working Paper has been prepared for this week’s meeting, various sources report. It brings together the various proposals and suggestions that have been sent to the Group from different parts of the Catholic world as well as from officials of the Roman Curia, the papal civil service. The Group planned to meet informally in the Vatican on September 30, before joining Pope Francis on October 1-3 for their first plenary session. “There has to be a long discussion and a long discernment.” Maradiaga said. He made very clear that “it’s not just a case of taking the Constitution ‘Pastor Bonus’, and trying to change that. NO! That Constitution is over”, he stated firmly. He made clear that they will not simply engage in a modification or adjustment of that basic 1989 text. “Now we need to write something new,” he said. He predicted that this process will take quite some time. But the work of the Advisory Group does not end with the reform of the Roman Curia, Maradiada said. Their task is much more than that, even this week: it is to advise the Pope regarding the government of the universal Church. In actual fact, though Maradiaga did not say this, Pope Francis has already indicated that he intends to solicit the cardinals’ views on other questions, including that of the Church’s pastoral approach to marriage (which includes the vexed question of divorced and re-married Catholics who are currently excluded from receiving communion). He will also ask them for advice - possibly in this meeting, but certainly in future ones, on the reform of the synod of bishops which is part of the wider question regarding the exercise of collegiality in the Church, and the relationship of the ministry of the Successor of Peter with that of the bishops worldwide in the government of the universal Catholic Church. John Paul II and John XXIII to be proclaimed saints on 27 April 2014 Tweet John Paul II and John XXIII JOHN PAUL II AND JOHN XXIII Karol Wojtyla and Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli will be proclaimed saints on the same day next spring, Pope Francis announced at the Concistory for the canonization of the two late popes GIACOMO GALEAZZI VATICAN CITY The two late popes who have most inspired Francis’ reform initiatives and his apostolate in the existential and geographical peripheries are to be proclaimed saints on the same day. Blessed John Paul II and Blessed John XXIII will be canonized on 27 April 2014. Francis announced his decision during the course of an Ordinary Public Concistory. Bergoglio announced the date in Latin, as is traditionally done. The Concistory for the canonization of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII took place at 10 am in the Concistory Hall in the Vatican Apostolic Palace. The Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato, introduced the two Popes in Italian, underlining the fact that they both lived during times of profound transformation. During these times of change, they demonstrated a great “firmness” of faith in proclaiming the “true dignity of humans” and the “dialogue” they established both inside and outside the Church. Cardinal Amato also emphasised the importance of the late popes’ work to achieve “peace among nations” The cardinal then talked about the lives of the two future saints, before Francis finally announced the date of their canonization. John Paul II and John XXIII will be enrolled among the saints on 27 April 2014, the second Sunday of Easter otherwise known as Divine Mercy Sunday. Francis chose to celebrate the canonizations on the Feast of the Divine Mercy (Dominica in albis as it is officially known in Latin), a solemnity established by John Paul II, who died at 21 .37 on 2 April 2005, so during the celebration of the first vespers of the Feast of Divine Mercy on Sunday 3. Last June Francis approved a second miracle attributed to John Paul II and decided that John XXIII didnt need a second miracle to be canonized. He was been credited with one - On 25 May 1966 Caterina Capitani was inexplicably healed from the consequences of serious bleeding which occurred after she had been subjected to an almost total gastric resection more than a year before - leading to his beatification back in 2000. Francis based his decision on the fact that John XXIII is already considered a saint by so many: in Roncalli’s family home in he village of Sotto il Monte in northern Italy, there is an entire room decorated with pink and blue bows, sent by couples who were diagnosed as sterile but managed to have children after invoking the Good Pope. According to Franciscan friar Giovangiuseppe Califano, the Postulator of John XXIII’s cause, “the decision is a sign that the memory of the Pope who convened the Second Vatican Council 50 years ago, is still alive throughout the world. Although he never travelled to America, we know that he often send radio messages to Latin American countries he showed an interest in the problems of the people living there, partly through the Nunciatures and the missionaries working there. And he was definitely in contact with the United States leadership, as he received Kennedy’s wife, Jacqueline, President Lyndon Johnson and others.” Pope John Paul II’s canonization is being celebrated at record speed, less than ten years after his death. He is only preceded by St. Anthony of Padua, who died on 13 June 1231: the solemn ceremony was held in Spoleto Cathedral, on Pentecost Day in 1232, in the presence of Pope Gregory IX. In John Paul II’s case, the investigation into the miracle attributed to him, was meticulously carried out. Costa Rican Froribhet Mora was unexplainably healed after suffering a near fatal brain aneurism on 1 May 2011, the day of Wojtyla’s beatification, which convinced many witnesses of the fact. Francis is of the same mind as Benedict XVI who decided to waive the normal 5-year waiting period for the opening of John Paul II’s cause by the then Vicar of Rome, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, in June 2005. Six years later he was beatified and now the date for his canonization has been set. The decision to canonize him was not taken because of the overwhelming number of people who wanted this since the day of the Polish Pope’s funeral. On that day, Joseph Ratzinger invited the world to turn its eyes to the “window of Heaven” from which John Paul II would continue to speak to us, as he had done very Sunday during the Angelus for the last 27 years. “Make him a saint straight away” was a wonderful but risky slogan. The strict canonization procedures which Karol Wojtyla had himself set in place and were later faithfully updated by Benedict XVI were fully respected. George Nchumbonga Lekelefac Seminarian of the Archdiocese of Toronto.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 17:14:43 +0000
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