Although their official meeting will be in
October, they are already moving full steam ahead with their work and
will use the summer months to prepare thoroughly for their first
meeting. The eight cardinals Francis chose as his advisors last 13 April, exactly one month after his election, are currently mulling over ideas and proposals. And they will not just be dealing with Curia reform.
When the Vatican Secretariat of State announced Francis’ decision to set up the advisory group, it specified that it was established “to advise him [the Pope] in the government of the universal Church and to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, 'Pastor Bonus'.”
Advising the Pope on the running of the universal Church is certainly no less important than the council’s task of reforming the Curia, but the latter will be the council’s main focus.
Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga is responsible for coordinating the group of eight cardinals he himself is a member of (Giuseppe Bertello, Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa, Oswald Gracias, Reinhard Marx, Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, Sean Patrick O’Malley, George Pell, Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga).
The council’s secretary is the Bishops of Albano (Italy), Marcello Semeraro. A representative of the Middle Eastern Churches could also join the group at some point in the future. They are all cardinals and therefore work closely with the Pope.
At the same time, they also work or worked within the bodies that represent Episcopal Conferences: the need to improve the relationship between the central Church in Rome and the local Churches was a subject which came up prior to the Conclave that elected Francis.
During the summer, the council is expected to draw up a document defining the nature and identity of the council.
The eight cardinals have held separate meetings with the Pope, they are in constant contact, and they share material and ideas regarding possible reforms. A great deal has been said about the Roman Curia: During the pre-Conclave meetings a clear need emerged for structures to be streamlined, certain offices merged, improved coordination among dicasteries and improved communication between these and the Pope.
Although the reform of the Holy See’s financial and economical structures are not at the top of the council’s list of priorities, council coordinator Maradiaga’s words indicate that this area will not be excluded.
The summer will be a time to organise and share the material gathered so far. The eight cardinals will look beyond the Curia and its reform – necessary though it is. They will also focus on proposals regarding Church life in general, following Francis’ indications. Some of these topics have been mentioned in the Pope’s recent speeches.
When Francis met members of the Synod’s Secretariat, he emphasised the need to reflect on family related problems, on the fact that so many people today do not marry but choose to live together and marriage becomes “provisional”.
The Pope encouraged reflection on the new evangelisation, using Paul VI’s Evangelii nuntiandi as inspiration and an awareness of the fact that society’s conditions force us to rethink our methods and to try to think of how to bring the Christian message to the people of today. On 13 June, Francis said we need to allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit, even if this leads us down new paths.
Another key subject is the ecumenical path. These issues were also widely discussed during the course of the pre-Conclave General Congregations.
Francis’ decision to appoint eight cardinals as advisors and the issues the group is to address shows the Pope’s willingness to listen and take on board common requests made by the majority of cardinals before the election of the new Pope.