Pope and

Vatican Insider
February 19, 2014

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/francesco-francisco-francis-c8-32155/

Iacopo Scaramuzzi vatican city

The Pope and the eight cardinal advisors (the so-called “C8”) who are helping him reform the Roman Curia received the Commission for Reference on the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) in an audience this morning. During this meeting, both “problems” and “possible” restructuring “strategies” were discussed, bearing in mind the “Church’s mission” and the “context” of the Vatican’s economic and administrative structure as a whole. This includes the IOR. Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi communicated this, adding that the Vatican Secretary of State was present at both yesterday and today’s meeting.

Today’s meeting was the second in a three-day meeting being held between the Pope and his advising Council. Yesterday the “C8” heard the Commission for Reference on the Economic-Administrative Structures of the Holy See (COSEA). Tomorrow afternoon there will be a meeting with the 15 cardinals in charge of studying the organisational and economic problems of the Holy See (Meisner, Rouco Varela, Pengo, Rivera Carera, George, Fox Napier, Cipriani, Scola, Toppo, Pell, Vallini, Urosa Savino, Ricard, Odilo Scherer, Tong Hon).

Today the Pope and his advisors received almost all members of the Commission for reference on the IOR (cardinals Farina (president) and Tauran, Mgr. Arrieta (coordinator), Mgr. Wells (secretary): only Professor Glendon who lives in the United States was missing). Lombardi said that the Commission presented “a thorough report” which cardinals showed “significant interest in,” asking “further questions” on it after it was presented. The Vatican spokesman emphasised that the “mission for the IOR” – in other words fitting “the mission of the Church into the world” – was discussed. This debate was not just limited to a close examination of economic efficiency. More specifically, the Commission “reported on the current situation of the Institute, the problems, the interpretations of what caused existing problems or reasons why there may be problems to deal with or resolve” and “some ideas for the renewal or set-up of the Institute.”

“No decisions were taken” during the meeting and neither has the commission led by Salesian cardinal Farina finished its job. What emerged from the statement given by the Vatican spokesman, is that the ideas shared by the Pope and his advisors may not separate the fate of the IOR from that of the Vatican’s other economic and administrative structures (APSA, Governorate, etc.) which COSEA is dealing with: “While the two Commissions have been given different tasks, the Pope, assisted by the Council of Cardinals, is certainly trying to see the whole picture, so as to come up with a coherent and solid solution for renewing the organisations and institutions that make up the Curia and the Church government.”

During the course of the briefing, Fr. Lombardi also answered some questions about a letter published in today’s press, regarding Cardinal Attilio Nicora’s role. He was President of the Vatican Financial Information Authority (AIF) up until a few weeks ago. The Vatican spokesman said the AIF “is a young and new institution which has evolved over the years, partly as a result of the results of the Moneyval report: I would be surprised if there were no disagreements or different visions or interpretations offered. I think it is perfectly normal that there is a debate surrounding the growth of the AIF.”

Questions were asked about the possibility of a married couple being put in charge of the Pontifical Council of the Family, in light of a recent interview with Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, the “C8’s” coordinator.Fr. Lombardi responded by humorously referring to the “many interviews” the Honduran cardinal has given and stressed that the idea is an “interesting” one but that there was no specific proposal being discussed by the Council of Cardinals.

The Vatican spokesman called for “prudence” when speaking about a possible end date to the work being done by the Council of Cardinals. The council already met with the Pope last October and December. “The hard work continues and no time is being lost. The Pope intends to arrive” at a conclusion “but I would be cautious in giving an exact time frame for any decisions and conclusions relating to this work,” he said.