Council of Cardinal Advisers

The Kardinalsrat is a papal advisory committee to reform the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church, which was established by Pope Francis.

Task

In the so-called " Vorkonklave " the pope election in 2013, many cardinals, criticized the operation of the Curia and called for a strengthening of the local churches. Soon after his election attacked the newly elected Pope Francis to these concerns and called on April 13, 2013 eight cardinals who should advise him at a reform of the Curia.

With a papal letter of 29 September 2013, the Panel was charged to become permanent, with the task of being " the Holy Father with the government of the universal Church help " " and with it a revision project for the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus on the Roman Curia "to prepare. In the same letter, the Panel also received a name: Consiglio di Cardinali.

The spokesman of the Holy See, Federico Lombardi, had repeatedly indicated that the Kardinalsrat will develop no separate documents, but only have an advisory role and the pope reserving all decisions.

Members

Members of the Council shall be the cardinal cardinals

• Giuseppe Bertello (President of the Pontifical Commission for the State of Vatican City )
• Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa (retired archbishop of Santiago de Chile, former president of the Latin American Episcopal Conference ),
• Oswald Gracias ( Archbishop of Bombay, president of the Federation of Episcopal Conferences in Asia),
• Seán Patrick O'Malley ( Archbishop of Boston )
• Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga ( Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, president of Caritas Internationalis )
• Reinhard Marx ( Archbishop of Munich - Freising, President of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community )
• Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya ( Archbishop of Kinshasa, former President of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar),
• George Pell ( Prefect of the Papal Secretariat economy, em. Archbishop of Sydney )

As secretary of the Cardinal Council acts Marcello Semeraro, Bishop of Albano.

The Pope reserved to himself, according to his spokesman Federico Lombardi, to increase the number of members or to change. The Cardinals "Enjoy the special appreciation of the Pope"; they are all not networked members of the Curia, but diocesan bishops from all over the world, and, because of their multiple functions as well until Bertello.

Work

Even before the first meeting of the Council, Pope Cardinal Francis clear that he sees urgent need for reform of organization and content of the Universal Church in view of the frequent " self-centeredness " of the Curia ..

In the first session from 1 to 3 October 2013, the head of the universal Church were discussed on the basis of about 80 proposals for reform of bishops and curia members for a question. How should a new constitution to replace the current Curia Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus and better coordination of Kurialbehörden be achieved. The Kardinalsrat also made it " the nature of, the service ' of the Curia to the universal Church and the local Churches in the foreground " and is dedicated to issues of the state of the laity in the Church.

A second session was held from December 5, 2013 from 3. The review of the Curia was continued, with the Council focused on the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments this time. In a press release stressed that the revision of the Constitution Pastor Bonus may be so profound that they could be regarded as new Curia Constitution. In addition, the Cardinals proposed to set up a Commission for the Protection of Minors, including the Pope agreed.

A third session has been held since February 18, 2014. On the first sitting day, the cardinals and Pope Francis informed, inter alia, the so-called Vatican Bank IOR.

Other uses of the term

The term Kardinalsrat is also used in relation to other bodies. So there is the Kardinalsrat to study the organizational and economic affairs of the Holy See and the State of the Vatican City ( short Kardinalsrat for Economic Affairs ). From the various media Kardinalsrat described here is erroneously referred to as " Commission of Cardinals ." However, there was in the past decades, various cardinal commissions ( which deal about the Dutch Catechism, the SSPX or the codification of Canon Law ).