Posts Tagged roman curia
New Vatican constitution will create more space at the table / U.S. Catholic
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Voice of the Faithful on May 9, 2022
An interview with scholar Phyllis Zagano on the new constitution and the roles of women in the church.
U.S. Catholic
“On March 19 Pope Francis issued a new apostolic constitution for the Roman Curia, the offices that help him govern the Catholic Church. Praedicate Evangelium (Preach the Gospel) has been in the works since the beginning of Pope Francis’ pontificate nine years ago. It is slated to go into effect on June 5, replacing the charter Pastor Bonus (The Good Shepherd) that was promulgated by St. Pope John Paul II in 1988. The completion of this constitution signifies an important milestone in Pope Francis’ ongoing work of making the church more pastoral, synodal, and inclusive.
“One significant change in the new constitution is that leadership of Vatican offices traditionally run by cardinals is now opened to all baptized laypersons. This includes women.
“According to internationally acclaimed scholar Phyllis Zagano, this move is less about making changes to women’s roles in ministry than it is about the pope’s determination to involve as many competent people as possible in the management structure of the church.
“Zagano is a senior research associate-in-residence and adjunct professor of religion at Hofstra University. She is the author of 23 books, including Women Deacons: Past, Present, Future (with Gary Macy and William T. Ditewig) (Paulist Press), Women in Ministry: Emerging Questions About the Diaconate (Paulist Press), Women Deacons? Essays with Answers (Liturgical Press), and Women: Icons of Christ (Paulist Press). She is a leading expert on the history of women in the church and an advocate for the ordination of women to the diaconate.”
U.S. Catholic interview with Phyllis Zagano, Ph.D., — Read more …
Is Pope Francis prepping for doomsday in the church? I hope so. / America: The Jesuit Review
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Future of the Church, Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on April 14, 2022
If that interpretation proves accurate to the Vatican’s intent, it would mean not only that most of the departments in the dusty but incredibly well-decorated halls of Rome can be run by women and men who aren’t priests, but that our local parishes and dioceses could.
By Jim McDermott, America: The Jesuit Review
“If you’re not a Vaticanista, the announcement of the proposed reform of the Roman Curia on March 17 might have seemed like some pretty standard Catholic gobbledygook. What is the Roman Curia? And why should I care about dicasteries? Does this mean I get to go back to eating meat on Fridays? If not, why are we talking about it?
“But in the midst of the release of the reform document (which was actually a big deal for many reasons), Vatican experts recognized something that actually could change things for you and me in a potentially massive way. As one theological expert who worked on the constitution put it, the Vatican seems to be saying that the “power of governance in the church does not come from the sacrament of [Holy] Orders” but from one’s mission in the church. That is, being in positions of leadership in the church should not require a collar, ordination or being a man.
“If that interpretation proves accurate to the Vatican’s intent, it would mean not only that most of the departments in the dusty but incredibly well-decorated halls of Rome can be run by women and men who aren’t priests, but that our local parishes and dioceses could. Your sister could potentially be put in charge of the parish where I say Mass; my aunt Kathleen or Uncle Stan could even end up running the diocese someday! (And they would be awesome.)
“If this sounds hard to believe, let’s remember that almost all of our Catholic schools are run by incredibly talented women and men who are not priests, and have been so in most cases for decades. The same is true of our Catholic social service agencies, homeless shelters and pretty much every other Catholic institution. Even some parishes are already run by “lay administrators” who effectively serve as pastors.”
By Jim McDermott, America: The Jesuit Review — Read more …
Pope Francis is drawing on Vatican II to radically change how the Catholic Church is governed / America: The Jesuit Review
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Future of the Church, Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on March 22, 2022
… Gianfranco Ghirlanda, S.J., explained the changes, saying that the ‘power of governance in the church does not come from the sacrament of [Holy] Orders’ but from one’s mission. The is a huge step for an institution that has for centuries relegated governance and administration to the ordained and only gradually opened both to lay people …
America: The Jesuit Review
Pope Francis’ long-awaited reform of the Roman Curia takes a head-on approach to the crises facing the church, using the Second Vatican Council as a road map for reclaiming the church’s credibility.
One could argue Francis was elected to carry out this reform, given that it was a main subject of the cardinals’ pre-election conversations in 2013. It is only the fifth such effort to remake the Curia in the last 500 years. The last three followed Vatican II, with efforts by Paul VI in 1967 and John Paul II in 1988 preceding Pope Francis’ reform. Since then, the church has lost credibility and hemorrhaged members in wealthy Western nations where its hold was once the strongest and is now experiencing a severe shortage of priests, leaving some Catholics without access to the sacraments for up to a year at a time …
The new constitution for the Roman Curia, “Praedicate Evangelium” (“Preach the Gospel”), which was finally released March 19 after nine years of work, recognizes that in the face of the crises of abuse, vocations and credibility, the way forward is not a “smaller but purer” church but rather a broad evangelization, the road map for which is Vatican II.
By Colleen Dulle, America: The Jesuit Review — Read more …
Pope releases Vatican reform, gives weight to fighting abuse
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Pope Francis, Voice of the Faithful on March 22, 2022
In one of the major changes, it (the new reform, Praedicate Evanglium) brings the pope’s advisory commission on preventing sexual abuse into the Vatican’s powerful doctrine office which oversees the canonical investigations into abuse cases. Previously, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors existed as an ad hoc commission that reported to the pope but had no real institutional weight or power.
Associated Press
“Pope Francis released his long-awaited reform program of the Holy See bureaucracy on Saturday (Mar. 19) that envisages greater decision-making roles for the laity and gives new institutional weight to efforts to fight clerical sex abuse.
“The 54-page text, titled “Praedicate Evanglium,” or “Proclaiming the Gospel,” replaces the founding constitution “Pastor Bonus” that was penned by St. John Paul II in 1988.
“Francis was elected pope in 2013 in large part on his promise to reform the bulky and inefficient Vatican bureaucracy, which acts as the organ of central governance for the 1.3-billion strong Catholic Church. He named a Cabinet of cardinal advisers who have met periodically since his election to help him draft the changes.
“Much of the reform work has been rolled out piecemeal over the years, with offices consolidated and financial reforms issued. But the publication of the new document, for now only in Italian, finalizes the process and puts it into effect in June.”
By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press — Read more …
Abuse survivor wants papal panel to push back on Vatican resistance / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on May 16, 2017
On Saturday, Pope Francis called Marie Collins, an abuse survivor who recently quit his Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors citing Vatican resistance to reform, a “great woman” and said she’s “right on some things.” In a Crux interview, Collins expressed gratitude but also said that the Church still needs uniform global standards and a way to hold bishops accountable.”
By John Allen, Ines San Martin and Claire Giangrave, Cruxnow.com — Read more …
Clergy abuse victim, Marie Collins, has resigned from the Vatican’s child protection body as of today
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on March 1, 2017
Voice of the Faithful knows Marie Collins to be dedicated to the protection of children from clergy sexual abuse and the healing of abuse victims/survivors. That she has decided to resign from the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors shows how extremely frustrating the Catholic Church’s resistance to accountability and healing from the scandal has been. In an article in The Irish Times today she said it has been “just shocking to me that in 2017 I can still come across these defensive, inflexible attitudes in men of the church, the same attitudes I saw 20 years ago when I was trying to bring my own case to justice here in Dublin. That’s what’s really the most shocking.”
Pope vows Vatican reform is real despite resistance / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on December 22, 2016
In his annual speech to the Roman Curia on Thursday (Dec. 22), Pope Francis presented a sweeping vision of reform for the Vatican’s central administration, outlining the values he wants that reform to embody and insisting that old bureaucratic patterns such as ‘promoting to remove’ must come to an end.
“Pulling no punches, Francis also conceded his efforts at reform have attracted opposition – both ‘open resistance,’ offered in a spirit of constructive dialogue, and ‘hidden’ and ‘malicious’ resistance, which he said ‘sprouts in distorted minds and shows itself when the devil inspires bad intentions, often wrapped in sheep’s clothing.’
“Yet even resistance for bad motives, he said, ‘is necessary and merits being heard, listened to and encouraged to express itself.’”
By John L. Allen, Jr., Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this article.
Church reform requires decentralization, synodality / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Future of the Church, Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on February 12, 2016
On the agenda of the most recent meeting of the Council of Cardinals was what might be the most important issue in the reform of the Roman Curia — the decentralization of decision-making in the church.
“The council is made up of nine cardinals, six from outside of Rome, who are advising the pope on the reform of the Vatican Curia. This was their 13th meeting since the council’s creation by Pope Francis shortly after his election.
“The Feb. 8-9 meeting of the council included a discussion of the Holy Father’s discourse on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops (Oct. 17). This talk developed theme of “synodality,” and spoke of “the need to proceed with a healthy decentralization” in the church.
“The pope’s speech “constitutes an important point of reference for the work of reforming the Curia,” according to Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi.”
By Thomas Reese, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this column.
Francis exhorts Vatican prelates to be more mature, recognizes ‘smallness’ of work / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Future of the Church, Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on December 21, 2015
Pope Francis has strongly urged the bishops and cardinals who head the various Vatican offices to act with more respect, honesty and maturity — and has told them that reform of the church’s central bureaucracy will go forward ‘with determination, clarity, and firm resolve.’
“In an annual pre-Christmas meeting with the leaders of what is called the Roman Curia, the pontiff also quoted a prayer long attributed to slain Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero to emphasize the ‘smallness’ of their work in the context of ‘God’s great project of salvation.’
“Referencing a similar speech he gave at this time last year — when the pope outlined 15 diseases he said were affecting the Vatican’s work — Francis said some of those diseases had manifested themselves in 2015, ‘causing not a little pain to the entire body [of the church] and wounding many souls.’”
By Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Voice of the Faithful
A lay movement for governance reform in the Roman Catholic Church, responding to the clergy sexual abuse scandal and supporting survivors.
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