Pope Francis

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Cover photo of the magazine at the link

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/european-publisher-launches-new-pope-francis-magazine/

European publisher launches new Pope Francis magazine

Rome, Italy, Mar 3, 2014 / 05:24 pm (CNA).- One of the largest publishing companies in Europe is releasing a first-ever weekly magazine dedicated entirely to Pope Francis due to the impact his pontificate has had in the world over the last year.

On March 3 Mondadori, Italy's largest book and magazine publisher and the third largest in the consumer magazine segment in France, announced their new magazine “Il Mio Papa,” which is to be the world's first magazine dedicated entirely to the Bishop of Rome.

Scheduled to hit newsstands every week beginning on Wednesday March 5, an initial print run of 3 million copies will be released during the first month.

“The idea for a magazine designed to report on and share the words and actions of Pope Francis came from observing how his election has stimulated a renewed interest on ethical, religious and moral issues,” the magazine's editor, Aldo Vitali, said in a March 3 press release announcing the publication.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/03/05/pope_audience:_lent_a_time_for_penance_and_charity/en1-778671

2014-03-05 11:04:56
Pope Audience: Lent a time for penance and charity

(Vatican Radio) In his General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis spoke about the importance of Lent as a time for each of us “to promote change and conversion” in our lives. Lent, the Pope said, should help us to get out of “the tired habits and lazy addictions to evil that deceive us.”

During this season, we are invited us to be more keenly aware “of the redemptive work of Christ,” and “to live out our Baptism with greater commitment.”

It was a theme taken up in the English-language summary of the Pope’s remarks:

“In these days the Church asks us to ponder with joy and gratitude God’s immense love revealed in the paschal mystery and to live ever more fully the new life we have received in Baptism. This journey of spiritual renewal in the footsteps of Christ also calls us to acknowledge and respond to the growing spiritual and material poverty in our midst.”

“Specifically, it means consciously resisting the pressure of a culture which thinks it can do without God, where parents no longer teach their children to pray, where violence, poverty and social decay are taken for granted.”

Pope Francis concluded his remarks by re-iterating the “essential elements” of Lent: “giving thanks to God for the mystery of his crucified love” along with “true faith, conversion, and an opening of the heart” to our brothers.

Listen to Christopher Wells report: RealAudioMP3

Below, please find the English language summary of Pope Francis’ catechesis at his weekly General Audience, with the Holy Father’s greetings for English-speaking pilgrims:
 

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http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1400924.htm

Mar-5-2014
Lent comes 'to reawaken us,' pope says at Ash Wednesday Mass


Pope Francis receives ashes from Slovakian Cardinal Jozef Tomko during Ash Wednesday Mass at the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome. (CNS/Paul Haring)

ROME (CNS) -- Lent is meant to wake up Christians and help them see that God can give them the strength to change their lives and their surroundings, Pope Francis said.

Before receiving and distributing ashes at an evening Mass March 5, Ash Wednesday, Pope Francis gave a homily focused on a line from the prophet Joel: "Rend your hearts, not your garments."
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/03/05/pope_francis_grants_interview_to_italian_daily_corriere_della_sera/en1-778625

2014-03-05 08:59:25
Pope Francis grants interview to Italian daily Corriere della sera

(Vatican Radio) Less than two weeks shy of one year on from his election as bishop of Rome, Pope Francis describes himself as, “A man who laughs, cries, sleeps well and has friends like everyone else.” It is the self-description the Holy Father offered to the editor-in-chief of the Italian daily, Corriere della sera, Ferruccio De Bortoli, in an interview appearing in the paper’s Wednesday, March 5th edition. Listen: RealAudioMP3

The Pope’s wide-ranging conversation with the veteran journalist covers themes from bioethics, to styles and modes of Church governance, to his friendship with and esteem for his predecessor, Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI.
 
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http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/494/0/-pope-sees-scope-for-kindness-and-pastoral-response-to-contraception-ban
Pope sees scope for ‘kindness’ and pastoral response to contraception ban
05 March 2014 10:55

Pope Francis has said that the church leadership needs to “take into account people’s situations” and their ability to adhere to the ban on artificial contraception.

A wide-ranging interview with the editor-in-chief of the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Ferruccio de Bortoli, is published today. Francis praises Paul VI, who authored the encyclical Humanae Vitae, for defending “moral discipline" but when asked if the Church should rethink its ban on contraception, he replied: “It all depends on how the text of Humanae Vitae is interpreted. Paul VI himself, towards the end, recommended that confessors show great kindness and attention to specific situations.” He added: “The question is not that of changing doctrine, but to go into the depths, and ensuring that pastoral [efforts] take into account people’s situations, and that which it is possible for people to do.”

He added that the subject would be discussed at October’s Synod of bishops on the Family.
 

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http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-francis-says-ideological-perceptions-of-him-are-offensive

Pope Francis Says Ideological Perceptions of Him Are 'Offensive'
Vatican City,  March 05, 2014 

“The Pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps well and has friends like everyone else. He is a normal person.” This was the description given by Pope Francis in an in-depth interview published today in the Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera.

The Holy Father, who was interviewed by editor in chief Ferruccio de Bortoli, reflected on several themes of his pontificate which will celebrate its first anniversary on March 13th.

Among the questions asked by Bortoli was on the Pope’s relationship with his predecessor, Benedict XVI. “He is discreet, humble, he does not want to bother,” the Pope said. Many were surprised to see the Pope Emeritus, who said he would “take up a life of prayer and meditation”, at the recent Consistory of Cardinals. Pope Francis said he spoke with Benedict XVI and agreed together that it was best that people see him.

“His wisdom is a gift from God,” the Pope said. “Some would have wanted him to retire to a Benedictine abbey far from the Vatican. And I thought of grandparents, who with their wisdom and counsel give strength to the family and should not end up in a retirement home.”

On being the focus of the world's attention, the Pope dismissed what he described as “ideological interpretations” of himself, calling it a “mythology of Pope Francis.”

When someone says, for example, that I go out at night from the Vatican to give food to the beggars in Via Ottaviano...It never came to mind,” he said. “To paint the Pope as if he were some kind of Superman, a sort of star, is offensive. The Pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps well and has friends like everyone else. He is a normal person.”
 

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http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/all-values-are-non-negotiable-pope-says-in-new-interview/

All values are non-negotiable, Pope says in new interview

Vatican City, Mar 5, 2014 / 01:39 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Emphasizing that “values are values” and leaving aside the expression “non-negotiable values,” Pope Francis has underscored the importance of the entirety of the Church’s social doctrine.

 In an interview published March 5 in Italian daily “Corriere della Sera,” he was asked about appeals to “the so-called ‘non-negotiable values’, especially in bio-ethics and sexual morality.”

 “I have never understood the expression non-negotiable values,” responded the Pope. “Values are values, and that is it. I can’t say that, of the fingers of a hand, there is one less useful than the rest. Whereby I do not understand in what sense there may be negotiable values.”

He added that what he wishes to say about “the theme of life,” he has stated already in “Evangelii gaudium.”

In the Italian context in which the interview was granted, the expression “non-negotiable values” is the fruit of a national debate that began in the 1980s -- when the Church in Italy celebrated its national convention in Loreto in 1985.
 

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http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1400916.htm

Mar-5-2014
Pope, in interview, suggests church could tolerate some civil unions
By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

 VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis suggested the Catholic Church could tolerate some types of nonmarital civil unions as a practical measure to guarantee property rights and health care. He also said the church would not change its teaching against artificial birth control but should take care to apply it with "much mercy."

Pope Francis' words appeared in an interview published March 5 in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

In the wide-ranging conversation with the paper's editor-in-chief, Ferruccio de Bortoli, the pope defended the church's response to clerical sex abuse and lamented that popular mythology has turned him into a kind of papal superhero. He also addressed the role of retired Pope Benedict XVI and the church's relations with China.

"Matrimony is between a man and a woman," the pope said, but moves to "regulate diverse situations of cohabitation (are) driven by the need to regulate economic aspects among persons, as for instance to assure medical care." Asked to what extent the church could understand this trend, he replied: "It is necessary to look at the diverse cases and evaluate them in their variety."

Bishops around the world have differed in their responses to civil recognition of nonmarital unions. The president of the Pontifical Council for the Family said in February 2013 that some legal arrangements are justifiable to protect the inheritance rights of nonmarried couples. But until now, no pope has indicated even tentative acceptance of civil unions.
 

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http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/transcript-pope-francis-march-5-interview-with-corriere-della-sera/

Transcript: Pope Francis' March 5 interview with Corriere della Sera

Vatican City, Mar 5, 2014 / 11:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Find below an English translation, by CNA's Estefania Aguirre and Alan Holdren, of the March 5 interview of Pope Francis with Italian daily "Corriere della Sera".

Holy Father, every once in a while you call those who ask you for help. Sometimes they don’t believe you.

 Yes, it has happened. When one calls, it is because he wants to speak, to pose a question, to ask for counsel. As a priest in Buenos Aires it was more simple. And, it has remained a habit for me. A service. I feel it inside. Certainly, now it is not that easy to do due to the quantity of people who write me.

And, is there a contact, an encounter that you remember with particular affection?

 A widowed woman, aged 80, who had lost a child. She wrote me. And, now I call her every month.  She is happy. I am a priest. I like it.

The relations with your predecessor. Have you ever asked for the counsel of Benedict XVI?
 
 Yes. The Pope emeritus is not a statue in a museum. It is an institution. We weren’t used to it. 60 or 70 years ago, ‘bishop emeritus’ didn’t exist. It came after the (Second Vatican) Council. Today, it is an institution. The same thing must happen for the Pope emeritus. Benedict is the first and perhaps there will be others. We don’t know. He is discreet, humble, and he doesn’t want to disturb. We have spoken about it and we decided together that it would be better that he sees people, gets out and participates in the life of the Church. He once came here for the blessing of the statue of St. Michael the Archangel, then to lunch at Santa Marta and, after Christmas, I sent him an invitation to participate in the consistory and he accepted. His wisdom is a gift of God. Some would have wished that he retire to a Benedictine abbey far from the Vatican. I thought of grandparents and their wisdom. Their counsels give strength to the family and they do not deserve to be in an elderly home.

Your way of governing the Church has seemed to us to be this: you listen to everyone and decide alone. A bit like a general of the Jesuits. Is the Pope a lone man?

 Yes and no. I understand what you want to say to me. The Pope is not alone in his work because he is accompanied and counseled by so many. And, he would be a lone man if he decided without listening, or feigned to listen. But, there is a moment, when it is about deciding, placing a signature, in which he is alone with his sense of responsibility.

You have innovated, criticized some attitudes of the clergy, shaken the Curia. With some resistance, some opposition. Has the Church already changed as you would have liked a year ago?

 Last March, I didn’t have a project to change the Church. I didn’t expect this transfer of dioceses, let’s put it that way. I began to govern seeking to put into practice that which had emerged in the debate among cardinals in the various congregations. In my way of acting, I wait for the Lord to give me inspiration. I’ll give you an example. We had spoken of the spiritual care of the people who work in the Curia, and they began to make spiritual retreats. We needed to give more importance to the annual spiritual exercises. Everyone has the right to spend five days in silence and meditation, whereas before, in the Curia, they heard three talks a day and then some continued to work.
 

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http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/fr-lombardi-church-is-committed-to-protection-of-minors

Fr. Lombardi: Church is Committed to Protection of Minors
Vatican City,  March 06, 2014

Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi has defended Pope Francis' comments, made in an interview yesterday with an Italian newspaper, on the Church’s commitment to combat child abuse.

Some criticized the Holy Father’s words, saying that he was making the Church a victim of the scandal.

In the interview with Corriere della Sera, the Pope defended the steps taken by the Church to ensure the safety of children.

“The cases of abuse are terrible because they leave very profound wounds,” he said. “Benedict XVI was very courageous and opened the way. And, following that way, the Church advanced a lot, perhaps more than anyone.”

“The statistics on the phenomenon of violence against children are shocking, but they also show clearly that the great majority of the abuses come from the family environment and from people who are close. The Catholic Church is perhaps the only public institution that moved with transparency and responsibility. No one else did as much. And yet, the Church is the only one being attacked.”

In an email to Nicole Winfield of the Associated Press, Fr. Lombardi addressed criticisms that the Church has been slow in its creation of a commission for the protection of minors. The commission was announced by Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston at the conclusion of meetings of the Council of Cardinals, also known as the G8, in December.

Fr. Lombardi said that although reforms within the Vatican bureaucracy are taking time, he had no doubt that the commission will arrive soon.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/03/06/pope_francis:_there_is_no_christian_style_without_jesus_or_the_cross/en1-779113

2014-03-06 13:09:15
Pope Francis: there is no "Christian style" without Jesus or the Cross

(Vatican Radio) Humility, meekness, generosity: this is the Christian “style,” a way of life that travels along the way the Cross, as Jesus did, and is a life that leads to joy. That was the message of Pope Francis in his homily on Thursday during the Mass at Santa Marta.

In the Gospel for the Thursday after Ash Wednesday, Jesus says to His disciples: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” This, the Pope emphasized, is the “Christian style,” because it was first put into practice by Jesus:

“We can’t think of the Christian life apart from this path. There is always this journey, a journey that He took first: the journey of humility, the journey, too, of humiliation, of denying oneself, and then rising. But this is the path. Without the Cross, the Christian style is not Christian, and if the Cross is a Cross without Jesus, it is not Christian. The Christian style takes the Cross with Jesus and goes forward — not without the Cross, not without Jesus.”
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/03/06/pope_urges_priests_to_have_hearts_of_mercy_and_compassion/en1-779136

2014-03-06 13:42:22
Pope urges priests to have hearts of mercy and compassion

(Vatican Radio) Good priests must be close to their people, sharing their suffering and healing their wounds. That was Pope Francis’ message to priests from the Rome diocese who met with their bishop in the Paul VI audience hall on Thursday morning. The Pope focused his words on the theme of God’s infinite mercy, saying a priest can only share this gift with others if he feels it in his own heart first.

Philippa Hitchen takes a closer look:
Listen: RealAudioMP3

Pope Francis began his reflection by commenting on the reading from St Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus is moved with compassion as he sees people ‘distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd’. In the same way, he said, priests here in Rome and around the world see so many people suffering in difficult situations and their hearts too must be filled with compassion.

Describing this period in the life of the Church as a time of God’s mercy, Pope Francis said priests must be men of mercy, experiencing that ‘gut reaction’ of compassion as they welcome, listen, advise and absolve those seeking healing and forgiveness. They can only do this effectively, he went on, if they allow themselves to be wrapped in God’s embrace through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
 

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http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1400951.htm

Mar-6-2014
Vatican medical experts OK reported miracle attributed to Archbishop Sheen

PEORIA, Ill. (CNS) -- A seven-member team of medical experts convoked by the Vatican reported there is no natural explanation for the survival of a child delivered stillborn and whose heart did not start beating until 61 minutes after his birth.

The survival of the child, James Fulton Engstrom, now 3 years old and developing normally, was credited by his parents to a miracle attributable to the intercession of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, a Peoria diocesan priest who gained fame for his 1950s television show "Life Is Worth Living" and his 16 years at the helm of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.
 
The case will next be reviewed by a board of theologians. With their approval, the case could move on to the cardinals and bishops who advise the pope on these matters. Finally, the miracle would be presented to Pope Francis, who would then officially affirm that God performed a miracle through the intercession of Archbishop Sheen. There is no timeline as to when these next steps might take place.

If the Engstrom case is authenticated as a miracle, Archbishop Sheen would be beatified, elevating his from "venerable" to "blessed." A beatification ceremony could conceivably take place in Peoria, according to the foundation, which promotes his sainthood cause. In general, a second miracle would need to be authenticated for canonization.

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/03/07/pope_francis:_the_most_difficult_charity_(or_fasting)_is_to_bend_over/en1-779460

2014-03-07 13:12:09
Pope Francis: The most difficult charity (or fasting) is to bend over and hug a wounded person

(Vatican Radio) Are we ashamed to touch the flesh of our wounded or suffering brothers and sisters? This was one of the key questions posed by Pope Francis during his homily at the morning Mass on Friday at the Santa Marta residence. The Pope stressed that our life of faith is closely linked to a life of charity and Christians who do not practice the latter are hypocrites.
Listen to this report by Susy Hodges: RealAudioMP3

Pope Francis used his homily to reflect on the essential role of charity in the life of every Christian. He said Christianity is not a repository of formal observances for people who put on a hypocritical good appearance to conceal their hearts empty of any charity. Christianity is showing the flesh of Jesus who bends down without shame in front of whoever is suffering. This contrasts with the Pharisees who criticized Jesus and the disciples for not practicing the commandment to fast and who as Doctors of the Law transformed the observance of these commandments into a formality and transformed religious life into an ethic.

“Receiving from our Lord the love of a Father, receiving from our Lord the identity of a people and then transforming it into an ethic means we are refusing that gift of love. These hypocritical people are good persons. They do all they should do. They seem good. But they are ethicists without goodness because they have lost the sense of belonging to a people! Our Lord gives us salvation through belonging to a people.”
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/03/07/pope_and_wcc_on_new_opportunities_for_christian_unity/en1-779487

2014-03-07 14:44:34
Pope and WCC on new opportunities for Christian unity



(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis and the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Rev Olav Fykse Tveit, have discussed “new opportunities for Christian unity today”, focused on working together for peace, justice and environmental protection. At a meeting in the Vatican on Friday, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the path of “full and visible communion” among Christians of different denominations. They also talked about peace in the Middle East and on the Korean peninsula, about economic justice and about an upcoming summit of religious leaders to press for urgent action on climate change.

The Geneva based World Council of Churches is a fellowship of 345 member churches from over 110 different countries. In his words to the general secretary Pope Francis thanked the organisation for its work over the past half century in “overcoming mutual misunderstanding” and promoting “sincere ecumenical cooperation”. If Christians ignore the call to unity which comes from the Lord, he said, “they risk ignoring the Lord himself.” Though the road to unity is still an uphill struggle, he said, the Spirit encourages us to move forward in trust.

Just after the audience, Philippa Hitchen spoke to Rev Fykse Tveit to find out more about their conversation and about their shared vision for the future of the ecumenical movement…..
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/03/07/pope_francis:_laity_are_protagonists_in_churchs_mission/en1-779629

2014-03-07 18:58:12
Pope Francis: laity are 'protagonists' in Church's mission

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis issued a message Friday evening to the participants at a conference in Rome on the laity, urging them to work for the social inclusion of the poor and calling on lay movements to maintain a vital link with their local parishes.

The March 7-8 conference, held at the Pontifical Lateran University, was organized under the theme, “The Mission of Lay Christians in the City”.

In his message, the Pope cited the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and underlined that the lay faithful, in virtue of their baptism, “are protagonists in the work of evangelization and human promotion”.

“Incorporated in the Church, each member of the People of God is inseparably a disciple and a missionary. We must always start again from this foundation, common to all of us, children of Mother Church,” he said.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/03/07/fr._lombardi_sj:_popes_trip_to_israel_confirmed/en1-779539

2014-03-07 15:24:04
Fr. Lombardi SJ: Pope's trip to Israel confirmed

(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ, confirmed on Friday that the scheduled visit of Pope Francis to Israel is to go ahead as planned.    Responding to stories that appeared in the Israeli press regarding a supposed cancellation of the visit due to a labour dispute in the Israeli Foreign Ministry that would have made preparing for the visit impossible, Fr. Lombardi, SJ said that the strikes, still in progress, ould create difficulties in the preparation of the visit, but that - for now - everything is on schedule.

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http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-curia-to-begin-spiritual-exercises-on-sunday

Pope, Curia to Begin Spiritual Exercises on Sunday
Vatican City,  March 07, 2014 

This Sunday, the first Sunday of Lent, the Pope and the Roman Curia will begin their spiritual exercises. The meditations will be led by Fr. Angelo De Donatis, parish of San Marco Evangelista in Campidoglio.
 
The retreat will continue until 14 March and during this period all pontifical audiences will be suspended, including the general audience of Wednesday 12 March.

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/03/08/pope_francis_warns_religious_orders_against_theoretical_poverty/en1-779735

2014-03-08 12:29:09
Pope Francis warns Religious Orders against "theoretical poverty"

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a message to the participants of a Vatican Symposium on "The management of the ecclesiastical goods of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, for the service of humanity and for the mission of the Church."

The two-day event, which was organized at the request of Pope Francis, is taking place at the Pontifical University Antonianum, which is run by the Franciscan Order.

“Our times are characterized by significant changes and progress in many areas,” Pope Francis writes. “However, despite reducing poverty, these achievements have often helped to build an economy of exclusion and inequality.”

Pope Francis writes the Christian community is challenged by the precariousness in which many people now live. He also affirms that Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life “can and should” be at the forefront of efforts to witness to the “principle of gratuitousness” and to “the logic of gift” when it comes to economic activity.

“The fidelity to the founding charism and subsequent spiritual heritage, together with the proper aim of each institute, remain the first criterion of evaluation of the administration, management, and all the operations made in the institution at every level : ‘The nature of the charism in communities of this kind directs their energies, sustains their fidelity and directs directs the apostolic work of all towards the one mission.’ (Vita Consecrata, 45),” the Pope writes.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/03/08/vatican_hosts_tribute_to_women_in_the_church:_voices_of_faith/en1-778914

2014-03-07 08:30:37
Vatican hosts tribute to women in the Church: Voices of Faith



(Vatican Radio) The selfless and courageous work of the Church’s “hidden” or voiceless women is being celebrated this International Women’s Day on Saturday, March 8th in the Vatican. The unique event, “Voices of Faith,” is the brainchild of Chantal Gotz, executive director of the Catholic philanthropic Fidel Götz Foundation, and project manager Giovanna Abbiati. The Pontifical Council for Social Communications has opened up the San Carlo Cinema inside the Vatican – not far from where Pope Francis lives at the Santa Marta guesthouse – for the event. The small structure can hold up to 80 participants and is sometimes used by the popes for private viewings of films.

Listen to Tracey McClure's round table discussion with Chantal Götz and Giovanna Abbiati:
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/03/08/pope_francis_names_members_of_council_for_the_economy/en1-779760

2014-03-08 13:59:10
Pope Francis names members of Council for the Economy

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has named the members of the Council for the Economy, which was created with the Motu Proprio “Fidelis dispensator et prudens” on 24 February2014. It is composed of 8 Cardinals and 7 laypeople.

In a statement by the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Rev. Federico Lombardi, SJ, it is noted Cardinals Cipriani Thorne , Napier, Rivera Carrera, Ricard , Hong Ton, Vallini , as well as Cardinal George Pell, the new Prefect of the Secretariat of Economy, were all members of the Council for the Study of Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See ( Council of 15) , which has been replaced by the new Council for the Economy. Father Lombardi also points out that Cardinal Marx and Cardinal Pell are both members of the Council of Cardinals for the reform of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, and to assist the Holy Father in the governance of the universal Church.

Father Lombardi said the relationship between the Council and the Secretariat for the Economy will be defined by their statutes, and, in any case, the Council is understood to be a body having the authority to act, and is not a mere advisory body of the Secretariat of Economy .

He also said the Motu Proprio “Fidelis dispensator et prudens” requires the Council to represent the universality of the Church, and the different geographical areas represented by the Council reflects this.

Father Lombardi said the establishment of the Council for Economics is a key step towards the consolidation of the existing management structures of the Holy See, which is meant to improve the coordination and supervision of economic and administrative issues.