VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
Joshua J. McElwee | Feb. 12, 2015
VATICAN CITY
Pope Francis begin a rare meeting with some 150 Catholic cardinals to discuss reform of the Vatican bureaucracy by calling on them to speak boldly and to keep in mind the “supreme law,” which he called the “salvation of souls.”
Opening what is known as a consistory, a closed-door meeting of the world’s cardinals at the Vatican, the pope also called on the prelates to help him in building “more effective collaboration” amongst church offices “in that absolute transparency that builds authentic synodality and collegiality.”
Speaking of the reform process that he has undertaken over the past 18 months with a select group of nine cardinals, Francis said reform of the Vatican bureaucracy “is not an end in itself.”
Reform of the bureaucracy, said the pontiff, is “but a means to give a strong Christian witness; to promote a more effective evangelization; to promote a more fruitful ecumenical spirit; to encourage a more constructive dialogue with all.”
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