VATICAN CITY
Crux
By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent December 12, 2015
ROME — A Vatican spokesman said Saturday that a group of nine cardinals from around the world who advise Pope Francis on his most important decisions, a body that includes Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, will focus in coming months on what the pontiff has called a “healthy decentralization” of Church government.
During their Dec. 10-12 meeting in Rome, the council of cardinals, generally known as the “C9,” noted the importance of a speech Pope Francis gave on Oct. 17 during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the institution of the Synod of Bishops, the Vatican said Saturday.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi told journalists that the C9 had underlined the need to reflect on this speech and the effect it might have in the reform of the Church’s government, so they have decided to dedicate a session to the subject when they meet again in February.
“In that speech, the pope extensively developed the theme of ‘synodality,’ but also recalled ‘the need to proceed with a healthy ‘decentralization’,” Lombardi told journalists.
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