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Pope meets with cardinals on future direction of church

Published:Wednesday | August 31, 2022 | 12:10 AM
Pope Francis gives his blessing during a mass he celebrated in St Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican Tuesday, Aug 30, 2022, for the new cardinals. The mass concludes a two-day consistory on the Praedicate Evangelium (Preach the Gospel) apostolic constitutio
Andrew Medichini
Pope Francis gives his blessing during a mass he celebrated in St Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican Tuesday, Aug 30, 2022, for the new cardinals. The mass concludes a two-day consistory on the Praedicate Evangelium (Preach the Gospel) apostolic constitution reforming the Roman Curia which was promulgated in March. Francis created 20 new cardinals on Saturday.

ROME (AP):

Pope Francis on Tuesday wrapped up two days of closed-door meetings with about 180 cardinals, many of them young enough to elect a future pontiff, including discussions about how the Catholic Church’s governance could be made more inclusive.

The sessions focused on a new Apostolic constitution that, among other things, allows lay people to head important Vatican offices, envisioning greater decision-making roles for them, including women.

But since the church has closed the door to women in the priesthood, the most prestigious, and ultimately most powerful roles – including that of a pontiff – remain the realm of men.

The reforms also lend more institutional weight to efforts to fight clerical sex abuse. The document, made public earlier this year, replaced the constitution written by St John Paul II in 1988.

Francis on Saturday raised 20 churchmen to the rank of cardinal, including 16 younger than 80 and thus eligible to vote in a conclave to elect his successor, when the time comes.

Until Pope Benedict XVI resigned in 2013, the first pontiff in almost 600 years to do so, conclaves in recent centuries had followed the death of popes. Francis, who is 85, has said that resignation can be a valid option for pontiffs who can’t adequately carry out their role as leader of the world’s more than 1.3 billion Catholics.