The Council of Cardinals met for three days this week: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 10-12 December. Present for the meetings were His Eminence, Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB; His Eminence, Cardinal Reinhard Marx; His Eminence, Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley, OFM Cap; His Eminence, Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello; and His Eminence, Cardinal Osvald Garcias. The Cardinal Secretary of State, Petro Parolin was not present because he is was representing the Holy See at the Inter-governmental Conference for the formal adoption by member states of the United Nations of the Global Compact for Migration, which is taking place in Marrakech (Marocco) from 10 to 11 December. As he usually does, the Holy Father participated in the working sessions except for the session held this morning; instead His Holiness was present at the General Audience.
At the express request of the Cardinals, as they had voiced at the conclusion of the XXVI meeting of the council of Cardinals (held on 10 and 11 September 2018) concerning a reflection on the work, the structure and the composition of the Council itself, and taking into account the ages of some of the members, the Holy Father, Pope Francis wrote to His Eminence, Cardinal George Pell, His Eminence, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz and His Eminence, Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya at the end of October, thanking them for the work that they have accomplished over the past five years. Considering the current state of the work having been accomplished by the Council, there are no plans at this point to appoint new members.
The working sessions were held in the mornings from 9:00am to 12:30pm and during the afternoons from 4:30pm until 7:00pm. The Cardinal Consultors addressed various themes, including the containment of costs associated with the Holy See; next year's meeting with the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences of the Catholic Church on the theme of the protection of minors, which will take place at the Vatican from 21 to 24 February 2019; and the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia. In addition, the Cardinals continued their discussions related to the Dicastery for Communication.
Monsignor Marco Mellino, who was appointed last October as Adjunct Secretary of the Council of Cardinals to help the Holy Father with the governance of the Universal Church and to study plans to revise the Constitution Pastor Bonus concerning the Roman Curia, was introduced to the Cardinals by the Holy Father. A new proposal for the Apostolic Constitution, whose provisional title is Predicate evangelium was presented to the Holy Father.
His Eminence, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Coordinator of the Council for the Economy, addressed the question concerning the reduction of the operating costs of the Holy See. The highest cost is undoubtedly represented by the cost related to personnel. It was reiterated that there is no plan or intention to proceed with the dismissal of any staff members, but it is necessary that job descriptions be defined in order to make the work of each Dicastery more effective, and also to facilitate assessing the possibility of relocations through mobility, and early retirement where possible. The sense of responsibility requires a long-term plan to reduce costs, and Cardinal Marx has proposed the development of multi-year budgets so that the Council for the Economy can formulate projections at 5 and 10 years to give a clearer idea of the situation and how to deal with it.
The Cardinals dwelt on the upcoming meeting with the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences concerning the protection of minors which is scheduled for February, strongly reiterating the importance of this encounter.
The Council of Cardinals then heard a report presented by Doctor Paolo Ruffini, who after having illustrated the progress of the Reformation that created the Dicastery for Communication, focused on the next steps to be carried out in order to bring it to completion according to the Motu Proprio of 27 June 2015, bringing together all the institutions involved and ensuring a coordinated management and an increasingly effective collaboration of resources thanks to new technological tools. The Prefect stressed the value of different media (radio, TV, web, social) in the current multimedia context and the importance of an integrated synergy between them. Doctor Ruffini illustrated the criteria to ensure a unified strategy of communication for the Holy See, emphasizing the unique value of the multilingual offerings of Vatican media.
Finally, Professor Vincenzo Bonomo, Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University and counsellor to the Vatican City State informed the Cardinals concerning the Vatican City State's new Laws of Governance.
The next meeting of the Council of Cardinals will take place from 18 to 20 February 2019.
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