The Cardinal Archbishop of Barcelona, Juan José Omella, also president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), has joined the Council of Cardinals, the select group of cardinals who advise Pope Francis on Church Government. This was reported by the Vatican on Tuesday, announcing a renewal within the body created by the Pontiff to advise him on the reform of the Roman curia when he was elected, almost ten years ago.
In addition to Omella, the Pope has also recruited another Spaniard, the president of the Vatican City State Governorate, Fernando Vérgez Alzaga. The Vatican Secretary of State (number two of the Pontiff), Pietro Parolin; in addition to the Archbishop of Bombay (India), Oswald Gracias; the Archbishop of Boston, Seán Patrick O'Malley; and the Archbishop of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Fridolin Ambongo Besungu.
Instead, the German Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich, withdrew; the former governor of the State of Vatican City, Giuseppe Bertello, and the Honduran Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Madariaga, who just turned 80. Other new members include Cardinal Gérald C. Lacroix, Archbishop of Québec; the Archbishop of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Hollerich (a Jesuit with close ties to Japan); and the Archbishop of San Salvador de Bahía, the Brazilian Sérgio da Rocha.
The Holy See has explained that the changes respond to the fact that the mandate of the members of this group had expired. The next meeting, and therefore the first in which the two Spanish representatives will participate, will be on April 24 at 9 am in the Casa de Santa Marta, the residence where the Pontiff lives.
The Council of Cardinals (also known as C-8) is a restricted group of members of the College of Cardinals that was established in October 2013, a few months after the election of Francis, as one of the suggestions made by the general congregations of cardinals. before the conclave.
The objective was for these advisers to act as a bridge between the Pope and the rest of the cardinals and bishops of the world and, although it is an advisory body, they have a determining voice when it comes to making transcendental decisions about the pontificate. Until now, the biggest task of this group was to guide the Pontiff in the reform of the Roman curia, but they have also advised him on matters such as the female diaconate or the synods, the object of the last meeting.
Although at first they are not appointed to meet continent quotas, they are chosen from different parts of the world so that the Pope can consult them on particular issues that affect their territories. Until now, however, there were no Spaniards.
In the past, the popes met privately with the cardinals or in groups, in the consistories to create new cardinals, but this option of creating a restricted dome is a novelty for the Argentine pope. Being part of it makes its members known throughout the ecclesiastical world, which will undoubtedly make them more influential in a future conclave.
