Vatican Curia reform is nearing completion

Nearly four years after the Pope established his Council of Cardinal (C9) advisers to help him in the task of reforming the Roman Curia, one member of the group said their work is wrapping up, and that it could take only a few more meetings to finish what they set out to do.

Sep 21, 2017

By Elise Harris
Nearly four years after the Pope established his Council of Cardinal (C9) advisers to help him in the task of reforming the Roman Curia, one member of the group said their work is wrapping up, and that it could take only a few more meetings to finish what they set out to do.

The ongoing process of reform “is being done at various stages of development, and I hope we’ll come to an end in all of these matters soon,” said Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay.

“It will take two or three more meetings more,” he said, adding that “by June perhaps we’ll be seeing the end of the tunnel.”
Cardinal Gracias is also President of the Asian Bishops Conference and, in 2013, was chosen by the Pope along with eight other prelates from around the world to advise him in matters of Church governance and reform.

As far as the reform goes, Cardinal Gracias said “there won’t be very major changes; it’s the governance of the Church, we can’t just turn everything upside down.” Rather, it will be “a gradual change, a change of mentality, a change of approach, restructuring a bit of the departments so that they are more logically suited to the needs of today.”

He said a key goal of the C9 is to implement the vision of the Second Vatican Council, specifically when it comes to the importance of the role of the laity and women, and incorporating greater synodality and collegiality into the Church’s structures.
From the beginning Pope Francis “was very clear about what he wanted this group to do,” the cardinal said. “He had no hesitation, he’s a good leader. He had a clear vision.”

Cardinal Gracias admitted that in the beginning he had doubts as to whether or not they were going in the right direction, and had started to worry about what people on the outside might say, since many fruits of the meetings weren’t and likely won’t be immediately visible. He said he also struggled with doubts about the pace at which they were moving, and believed that things were going “too slow.”

More than anything, there is a change in mentality that’s needed, which will take longer than simply reforming the Vatican’s structures, he said, but the group is “rather confident that it will happen because the Pope is giving very effective leadership.”--CNA

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