How Pope Francis reforms Catholics leadership tradition
The Vatican published on Saturday a long-awaited document implementing Pope Francis’ reform of the organization and structure of the Roman Curia.
The apostolic constitution, Praedicate evangelium (“Preach the Gospel”), was released initially only in Italian on March 19 after nine years in production by the pope’s Council of Cardinal Advisers.
The constitution underlines that “any member of the faithful” can lead one of newly constituted Vatican dicasteries or other bodies, “given their particular competence, power of governance and function.”
Praedicate evangelium replaces Pastor bonus, the apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia promulgated by Pope John Paul II on June 28, 1988, and later modified by both popes Benedict and Francis.
With the publication of the new constitution, Pastor bonus is “fully abrogated and replaced.”
The constitution was issued on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the ninth anniversary of the inauguration of Pope Francis’ pontificate. It will take full effect on June 5, the Solemnity of Pentecost.
No more congregations or pontifical councils
Under the new constitution, all the Vatican’s main departments are now known as “dicasteries.” The powerful Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, for example, will now be called the “Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.”
Along with removing the title “congregation” from Vatican departments, the new constitution renames pontifical councils as “dicasteries.”
The constitution says: “The Roman Curia is composed of the Secretariat of State, the Dicasteries and other bodies, all juridically equal to each other.”
The 16 dicasteries are as follows:
Dicastery for Evangelization
Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
Dicastery for the Service of Charity
Dicastery for the Eastern Churches
Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
Dicastery for the Causes of Saints
Dicastery for Bishops
Dicastery for the Clergy
Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life
Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity
Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue
Dicastery for Culture and Education
Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
Dicastery for Legislative Texts
Dicastery for Communication
The document explains that “it became necessary to reduce the number of departments, joining together those whose purpose was very similar or complementary, and rationalize their functions with the aim of avoiding overlapping of competencies and making their work more effective.”
Evangelization at the center
In a significant change, the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, responsible for mission work, are merged into the Dicastery for Evangelization, presided over directly by the pope.
The Dicastery for Evangelization is listed first among the dicasteries in the document, indicating its centrality in the new structure of the Roman Curia.
The dicastery will have two sections, one for “fundamental questions of evangelization in the world” and another “for the first evangelization and the new particular Churches in the territories of its competence.”
The document confirms changes to the former Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith unveiled by Pope Francis in February.
The pope reorganized the internal structure of the Vatican’s doctrine office into two sections: a doctrinal section and a disciplinary section.
Setting out the doctrinal section’s responsibilities, the new constitution says that it works in close contact with Church leaders around the world “in the exercise of their mission as authentic teachers and teachers of the faith, for which they are bound to safeguard and promote the integrity of that faith.”
The section “examines writings and opinions that appear contrary or harmful to the right faith and morals; it seeks dialogue with their authors and presents suitable remedies to be made, in accordance with its own norms.”
It also “endeavors to ensure that there is an adequate refutation of the dangerous errors and doctrines which are spread among the Christian people.”
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