Saturday, March 8, 2014

Members of the Council for the Economy

In the past couple of weeks, we have reported in these pages about the establishment of the new Secretariat for the Economy at the Vatican, the appointment of it's first Prefect in the person of Cardinal George Pell, and the subsequent appointment of it's Secretary in the person of Monsignor Alfred Xuereb.

Today, the Vatican Press Office published the names of the other members of the Secretariat, those who will be working with Cardinal Pell in the process of overseeing the Economic status of the Holy See.


Continuing the work of establishing the new institutions created by the Motu Proprio Fidelis dispensator et prudens issued by the Holy Father, Pope Francis on February 24 of this year, His Holiness has appointed ad quinquennium (for the next five years), eight Cardinals and seven lay experts as members of the Council for the Economy.  They are:
  • Reinhard Cardinal Marx, Archbishop of München und Freising. Germany (Coordinator);
  • Juan Luis Cardinal Cipriani Thorne, Archbishop of Lima, Peru;
  • Daniel N. Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, USA;
  • Wilfrid Fox Cardinal Napier, Archbishop of Durban, South Africa;
  • Jean-Pierre Cardinal Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux, France;
  • Norberto Cardinal Rivera Carrera, Archbishop of México City, México;
  • John Cardinal Tong Hon, Bishop of Hong Kong, China;
  • Agostino Cardinal Vallini, Vicar General of His Holiness for the Diocese of Rome, Italy;
  • Mister Joseph F.X. Zahra, Malta (Assistant Coordinator);
  • Mister Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, France;
  • Mister John Kyle, Canada;
  • Mister Enrique Llano Cueto, Spain;
  • Mister Jochen Messemer, Germany;
  • Mister Francesco Vermiglio, Italy; and
  • Mister George Yeo, Singapore.
Some brief biographical notes about these newly-appointed members are available (in English) on the Vatican website.

Cardinals Cipriani Thorne, Napier,  Ricard, Rivera Carrera, Tong Hon and Vallini, along with Cardinal Pell, the newly-appointed Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, were previously all members of the Council for the Study of Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See (Council of 15), which has ceased to exist. Cardinal Marx and Cardinal Pell, as is known, are both members of the Council of Cardinals for the reform of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor bonus, and for assisting the Holy Father in the governance of the universal Church.

The relations between the Council and the Secretariat for the Economy will be defined by the statutes, and in any case the Council is to be understood as a body with its own authority for policy decisions, not merely an advisory body of the Secretariat for the Economy.

The members appointed to the Council are from various geographical areas, reflecting, as requested by the Motu proprio Fidelis dispensator et prudens, the universality of the Church. The constitution of the Council for the Economy is a key step towards the consolidation of the current management structures of the Holy See, with the aim of improving coordination and oversight of economic and administrative matters.

The Council will begin work immediately, and its first meeting is scheduled for May.

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