Pope Francis Shakes Things Up, Names Advisory Committee on Major Reform of the Curia

And so it begins:  Pope Francis, following through on discussions which were held before his election to the papacy, sets out to reorganize the Roman Curia.

According to a communiqué issued this morning by the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, the Holy Father has appointed eight cardinals from around the world to lead the reform of the Roman Curia.  The plan to review Church government was proposed during the General Congregations which preceded last month’s Conclave; and the group will study Pope John Paul II’s 1998 Apostolic Constitution “Pastor Bonus”, which recommended that representatives of all the faithful have a role in the Roman Curia.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, the only American cardinal on the eight-person advisory panel, is currently on pilgrimage in the Holy Land with ten of his priests, and has not yet commented on the appointment.

Following is the statement released today by the Vatican Information Service.

POPE FRANCIS APPOINTS GROUP OF CARDINALS TO ADVISE HIM ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT AND REVISION PLAN OF APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION ON ROMAN CURIA

Vatican City, 13 April 2013 (VIS) – Following is the full text of a communique issued today by the Secretariat of State.

“The Holy Father Francis, taking up a suggestion that emerged during the General Congregations preceding the Conclave, has established a group of cardinals to advise him in the government of the universal Church and to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, ‘Pastor Bonus’.

The group consists of:

Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State;

Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, archbishop emeritus of Santiago de Chile, Chile;

Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay, India;

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany;

Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo;

Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley O.F.M., archbishop of Boston, USA;

Cardinal George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia;

Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in the role of coordinator; and

Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, Italy, in the role of secretary.

The group’s first meeting has been scheduled for 1-3 October 2013. His Holiness is, however, currently in contact with the aforementioned cardinals.”