Pope’s advisors say Curia staff has to have more young people and women

Pope Francis’ advisory council of cardinals — known as the C9 — had its 21st set of meetings this week. Charged with helping the pope to reform the Roman Curia, the council decided to review and assess the various tracks of reform that the pope has spoken about this year.

The director of the Vatican press office, Greg Burke, said that guided by Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, the cardinals took advantage of this latest meeting to dedicate themselves to reviewing the status of the proposals that the C9 has offered to the pope for the reform of the Curia.

They then went through a general review of the statements by the Pontiff regarding this reform, namely: his addresses during the traditional Christmas meeting with the Roman Curia, but also from the two Consistories – February and October 2015 – and regarding the 50th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops.

The senior prelates have addressed the issue of making the Curia an instrument of evangelization at the service of the pope and local Churches. They also spoke of the decentralization of the Curia, the role of the Apostolic nunciatures, and the selection of personnel. They stressed the need to recruit “less clerical, and more international” staff and to include more “young people and women.”

The Cardinals also exchanged views on the pope’s recent changes to canon law on liturgical translations into the local language, added Burke. They particularly analyzed the potential impact of the document on the role of the Vatican’s Congregation that deals with liturgy.

Cardinal Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, as well as Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, also spoke.

Lastly, the C9 conducted a review of the Statutes of the new Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life.

In an interview in Italian for Vatican Radio on September 11, the Secretary of the C9, Bishop Marcello Semeraro, explained that the process of reviewing the reform would be completed within a few months. The next meeting of the C9 is scheduled for December 11-13.