Pope formally creates Council of Cardinals to help in Church governance

September 30, 2013 - Pope Francis has formally instituted a Council of Cardinals to help him in the governance of the worldwide Catholic Church and in the study a plan to revise the Apostolic Constitution ‘Pastor Bonus’ that governs the working of the Roman Curia, the central administration in the Vatican. A legal document to the effect was issued by Pope Francis on Monday, defining the role of the group of 8 cardinals he appointed on April 13, among them Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay. The legal document comes on the eve of the Pope’s first meeting with this select group of cardinals, Oct. 1-3. Vatican spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi described the Pope’s latest move as ‘another instrument that enriches the governance of the Church through a new way of consultation.” The Jesuit priest clarified that the role of cardinals is purely consultative with the final decision remaining always with the Pontiff. Fr. Lombardi drew attention to Pope Francis’ recent interview published by the Jesuit periodical, “Civiltà Cattolica’, where the Pope expressed his desire to govern the Church through consultation, which is drawn from his experience.
Currently the members of the Council of Cardinals are:
Card. Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, India
Card. Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State
Card. Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, Archbishop Emeritus of Santiago de Chile
Card. Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany
Card. Laurent Monswengo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
Card. Sean Patrick O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, USA
Card. George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, Australia
Card. Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras

* Bishop Marcello Semeraro, Bishop of Albano, will be the secretary.
(Source: Vatican)