DENVER (CO)
Crux
July 6, 2019
By Inés San Martín
Rome – Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay, India, is one of Pope Francis’s closest advisers. He’s a member of the council of cardinals re-writing the Vatican’s constitution, and he was also tapped to be one of the four coordinators of a recent Church summit on the protection of minors.
Gracias told Crux said that the reorganization of the Roman Curia – the central government of the Catholic Church – will have a “Francis effect,” and have evangelization, service and charity as its three key pillars.
Crux spoke with Gracias on July 3 about the Vatican’s new constitution, a possible papal visit to India, and other issues. What follows are excerpts of that conversation.
Crux: You were in Rome last week for the meeting of the council of cardinals that advises the pope, and now you’re back. What brought you to the Eternal City this time?
Gracias: Several things, meetings … I’m participating in the anglophone meeting for the protection of minors that brings together English-speaking bishops from around the world. I also had a meeting at the Secretariat of State to follow up on the February meeting [the summit on sexual abuse.]
The pope recently issued two motu proprios that are connected to that meeting, which focused on the protection of minors. When will we see the next follow-up to that meeting?
We’ve had a few meetings already, and I hope that by the end of the year we’re going to have formalized our contributions. Some changes in canon law might still follow, and we also want to put more flesh on the pope’s motu proprio.
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