Meeting of Pope with the Council of Cardinals

April 30, 2014: The Council of Cardinals met in the Vatican on Monday for the first session of its fourth meeting.The meetings continued also on Tuesday and Wednesday. Pope Francis participated most of the time, except when he had other commitments of particular importance, such as the audiences with the King and Queen of Spain on Monday morning; with the President of Paraguay on Tuesday morning and the general audience on Wednesday morning. But Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin participated regularly.
The Council of the so-called C-8 – Council of 8 Cardinals, was instituted by Pope Francis to help him in the governance of the universal Church and to draw up a project for the revision of the apostolic constitution “Pastor Bonus” on the Roman Curia.
On Monday afternoon, the Council heard a report from the president of the Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Organisation of the Economic-Administrative Structures of the Holy See (COSEA), Joseph F.X. Zahra, regarding some sectors of activities studied by the Commission.
Following its review in previous Meetings of the Congregations of the Roman Curia, the Council is now focusing on the Pontifical Councils, first in terms of general considerations, followed by an individual appraisal of each one. The Council is expected to complete a first report of its considerations regarding the Pontifical Councils during this meeting. The next meeting of the Council of Cardinals is scheduled for July.