The Council for the Economy held its first meeting on Friday in the Vatican apostolic palace.
Established by Pope Francis through the Feb. 24 Motu proprio “Fidelis et dispensator prudens”, the Council is to help in the coordination and supervision of economic and administrative issues of the Holy See.
Its next meeting is scheduled for 5 July, with two more planned to take place in September and December this year.
The sessions of the meeting were chaired by the Coordinator of the Council, Cardinal Reinhard Marx.
In addition to the 15 members, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Cardinal George Pell, president of the Secretariat for the Economy, and the prelate secretary of the council, Monsignor Brian Ferme attended, according to a communique issued by the Vatican press office.
The Vatican says the council is to focus on both the importance of transparency and the council’s role to properly protect and manage assets, which will eventually foster reform needed within the Roman Curia.
The Vatican pointed out that clergy and laypersons were seated in alternate positions at the table rather than in two separate groups, showing that “both the Holy Father and the Cardinal Coordinator were keen to emphasise in their discourses, [that] the clerical and lay members of the Council are on the same level, with equal rights and responsibilities.”
“The work of the Council, which took place in a positive and constructive context, focused first on the draft Statutes of the Council itself, an examination of which will be continued at the next meeting so that they can be submitted for approval by the Holy Father,” the statement read.
“The work carried out by the Commission for the organisation of the economic-administrative structure of the Holy See (COSEA, instituted by the Holy Father on 18 July 2013) was presented to the Council. The information and continuity of the work are guaranteed by the fact that the President and two other members of COSEA are now members of the Council for the Economy.” (D.C.L.)
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On Zenit’s Web page:
Link to Pope Francis’ Address to Council: http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-s-address-to-council-for-the-economy
