Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, reiterated that Pope Francis and the Council of Cardinals are continuing to discuss curial reform, but noted that no decisions have been made yet.
During a briefing held this afternoon in the Holy See Press Office, the Vatican spokesman informed journalists about the Eighth Session of the “Council of Cardinals,” often called the “C9,” which began Monday and ended this afternoon in the Vatican.
Fr. Lombardi noted that the members and the Pope participated in all its meetings, with the only exception being the Pope on Wednesday morning due to his weekly General Audience.
Tuesday afternoon, the Council reflected on the Secretariat and the Council of Economy in view of the finalization of the statutes of these new bodies.
The first part of the meeting this morning devoted to the preparation of the Consistory of the following day, particularly how the Coordinator of the Council, Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga, will contribute.
In the second part of this morning’s meetings, the Vatican spokesman added, there was an update on the organization and activities of the Secretariat of Economy. Fr. Lombardi didn’t provide details on what specifically was discussed.
“At the last meeting this afternoon,” Fr. Lombardi said, “we will resume consideration of the morning with the Holy Father, and there will probably be a briefing by Cardinal Sean O’Malley on the recent plenary meeting of the new Commission for the Protection of Children.”
The Vatican Press Office director also told journalists present that there will be another briefing in the Holy See Press Office tomorrow.
The next session of the Council of Cardinals is scheduled for April 13-15.
The Council of Cardinals consists of the following nine prelates: Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State; Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, Archbishop Emeritus of Santiago, Chile; Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay; Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich; Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, Archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo; Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston; Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy; Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State.
Following the plenary, the C9 will present and share what it has done and its reflections related to the Curia with the College of Cardinals, who will be meeting from Feb. 12-13. This meeting will be followed by the consistory for the creation of new cardinals on Feb. 14-15. This marks the second consistory under Pope Francis’ pontificate.
Father Lombardi also reminded the journalists that today is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and marks the two-year anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation.
