Vatican City, March 19, 2022: The Vatican published March 19 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 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.
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
Department 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.”
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.”
Each section will be governed in the Pope’s name by a “pro-prefect.”
A Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
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.”
The document explains that the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is “established within the Dicastery” for the Doctrine of the Faith.
“Its task is to provide the Roman Pontiff with advice and counsel and to propose the most appropriate initiatives for the protection of minors and vulnerable persons,” it says.
Cardinal Seán O’Malley, president of the pontifical commission, welcomed the change.
He said: “For the first time, Pope Francis has made safeguarding and the protection of minors a fundamental part of the structure of the Church’s central government: the Roman Curia.”
“Linking the commission more closely with the work of the new Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith represents a significant move forward in upgrading the place and mandate of the commission which can only lead to a stronger culture of safeguarding throughout the Curia and the entire Church.”
Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/249964/praedicate-evangelium-pope-francis-reforms-roman-curia-with-launch-of-vatican-constitution#.YjXwOC8-3Uw.whatsapp
In his book “Glimpses of Recent Popes” the late Rev Desmond D’Souza CssR had advocated that Vatican offices be dispersed across the world like UN offices. I have endorsed this idea in my own book “The Jerusalem Code”. This is aimed at making the Church more “Catholic” (universal) and less Roman. It would decentralize power and help break the Italian monopoly on the Curia. Perhaps this could be Pope Francis’ next step.
Will changing the name from “congregation” to “Dicastery” bring in the desired renewal in the Catholic Church? Or is this just a “word gimmick”? The institutionalised church is not the one Jesus wanted.