Pope Francis Reforms Roman Curia, Says Any Layperson Can Hold ‘Governance’ Positions in Vatican

The reforms, published in the new apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, will come into effect June 5, and look to open the door further to female governance in the Catholic Church.

VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis has published his long awaited document reforming the Roman Curia, allowing any member of the laity to lead a Curial departments, which have all been renamed and now deemed to be of “equal” value.

With a complete absence of fanfare or warning, the Holy See Press Office published Pope Francis’ apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium (Preach the Gospel) March 19. At the same time, the Vatican announced the press conference, scheduled for March 21, to present and explain the new regulations, which will be led by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints; Bishop Marco Mellino, Secretary of the Council of Cardinals; and Jesuit Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda, canonist and emeritus professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Comprising of 250 articles, Praedicate evangelium will come into effect on Pentecost Sunday, June 5, 2022. It is the result of the 2013 pre-conclave meetings and the subsequent meetings of Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals, along “with various contributions from the local Churches around the world.”

The text is presented only in Italian. The previous Curial reforms from 1988, Pope John Paul II’s Pastor bonus, are now “fully abrogated and replaced.”

Marriage will follow. “Luther... argued that something one did, such as making a vow or becoming celibate, could not add to ones holiness (1522). ...celibacy as the creation of canon law, itself the work of the devil (1530) and held that for fallen men, burning with passion, marriage was a necessity if they were to avoid sin (his understanding of 1 Cor 7:9). Luther himself married in June 1525 and died the father of a large family. His position on celibacy was, in broad outline, that of the other Protestant reformers. For example, Calvin held that some are called by God to celibacy, but that it should not be prescribed by law and nor be considered a more spiritual, nor higher, vocation than marriage. Significantly, his is the best historical scholarship of the period.”

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3637159/posts

[Catholic Caucus] Prelate close to pope: Divorced/remarried can be teachers, lectors, godfathers

. . .Yet Bishop Marcello Semeraro isn’t just any old shepherd of Albano, because he’s also the secretary to the “C9,” the council of cardinal advisers from around the world created by Francis shortly after his election to serve as his kitchen cabinet. Its formal remit is to develop a plan for reform of the Roman Curia, but in reality, Francis uses it as a sounding board for many of his important decisions.

That means Semeraro is often in the room when the sausage of this papacy is being ground. He knows the pope’s mind and will as well as just about anyone, so when he released a set of pastoral guidelines on implanting Amoris Laetitia for his presbyteral council on Friday, the contents attracted more than the usual amount of attention.

Summing up, one could say that Semeraro didn’t walk back from the cautious “yes” Francis delivered on the Communion question, extending it to a range of other roles in the Church from which divorced and civilly remarried Catholics at times have been excluded, including:

Member of the parish council
Lector at Mass
Religion teacher in a Catholic school
Catechism teacher
Catholic charities workers
Serving as godfather/godmother for a baptism. . .

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