Pope Francis speaks to advisory group © Osservatore Romano
The nine-member council of cardinals advising Pope Francis on his curia reform is nearing the end of its work. The secretary of the so-called K9 Council, Bishop Marcello Semeraro, said this in an interview with Vatican News.
At the next meeting of the K9, which begins Monday, topics already covered would be explored in greater depth, Semeraro said. In addition, he hinted that a new programmatic letter from the pope is to be expected.
In the deliberations on the most important Vatican authorities, he said, they are already in the final phase and are reassessing previous findings. "The work done so far has helped to clarify some questions that did not seem urgent at the beginning," says the bishop.
Spiritual curia reform
Semeraro, who visited the pope during his Lenten retreat in Ariccia on Wednesday, stressed that for Francis the curia reform is above all a spiritual. The main ie, he said, was a change in mentality among employees of church authorities. This mentality, he said, is well expressed in his letter "Evangelii gaudium," the apostolic exhortation on the proclamation of the Gospel. A structural reorganization of authorities and work processes was also necessary, but not primarily targeted.
Asked for an assessment of the soon-to-be five-year pontificate, the secretary of the K9 Council said Francis is asking his staff to "take a new stand". "Beyond the specific content that the pope puts before us and that we find in the great documents – and it is conceivable that the pope will give us a new document," the bishop said.