The Council of Cardinals (also called C9 because it contained 9 cardinal members for some time), also known as the Council of Cardinal Advisers, is a group of cardinals of the Catholic Church appointed by Pope Francis to serve as his advisers. The Council was formally established on 28 September 2013.
The Council of Cardinals was named under abbreviations referring to the number of cardinals advisers which, over time, it comprised: [1] C8 (8 cardinals), [2] C9 (9 cardinals), C6 (6 cardinals), C7 (7 cardinals). [1]
The appointment of a group of 8 advisors and one secretary to support the pope and the reform of the Roman Curia was announced on 13 April 2013, one month after his election. [3] [4] [5] The same group was formally established as the Council of Cardinals on 28 September of the same year by a chirograph of Pope Francis. [6] [7]
Secretary of State Pietro Parolin was added as member of the Council in July 2014. [8] The Holy See used the expression "Council of the nine" (Consiglio dei nove in Italian) in September 2014. [9]
In 2018, Marco Mellino was named as adjunct secretary [10] [11] of the Council's secretary Marcello Semeraro. [4] Pope Francis later removed three of the Council's 9 members in late 2018. [12] [13]
Francis appointed another cardinal as member in 2020, and also replaced secretary Marcello Semeraro by Marco Mellino. [14] [15]
In March 2023, three cardinal advisors were removed, and five new cardinal advisors were appointed; the three other cardinals and the secretary were kept (re-appointed). This made the current total of 9 cardinal advisers and one secretary. [16] [17] [18] On 24 April 2023, the new Council of Cardinals held their first meeting, which Pope Francis presided over. [19]
In February 2024, the role of women was discussed. [20]
On 13 April 2013, the Holy See stated the cardinals had been appointed "to advise [the Pope] in the government of the universal Church and to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, 'Pastor Bonus '". [3] In a chirograph dated 28 September 2013, Pope Francis stated the Council had the goal "of assisting me in the governance of the universal Church and of studying a project for the revision of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus on the Roman Curia", and that "said Council will be a further expression of episcopal communion and assistance to the munus petrinum which the Episcopate across the world is able to offer". [7]
The Council of Cardinals was thus created primarily to assist Pope Francis in the reform of the Roman Curia. Said reform was promulgated in 2022 through the apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium . The Council continues to exist and to perform various activities, despite having achieved its main goal. [1]
Due to the advisory role of the body, some publications have likened it to a privy council.[ relevant? ] [21] [22]
The council currently comprises 9 cardinals, assisted by Bishop Marco Mellino as its secretary: [16] [17] [18]
At the time of its formation, the council had eight members. Cardinal Parolin was not among the council's original membership, but attended the meetings regularly and, in July 2014, was confirmed by the Holy See Press Office as a ninth member of the council. [25]
The Holy See, also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome, which has ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the worldwide Catholic Church and sovereignty over the city-state known as the Vatican City.
The Roman Curia comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use of in the exercise of his supreme pastoral office and universal mission in the world. It is at the service of the Pope, successor of Peter, and of the Bishops, successors of the Apostles, according to the modalities that are proper to the nature of each one, fulfilling their function with an evangelical spirit, working for the good and at the service of communion, unity and edification of the Universal Church and attending to the demands of the world in which the Church is called to fulfill its mission.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible for promulgating and defending Catholic doctrine.
The Institute for the Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a financial institution that is situated inside Vatican City and run by a Board of Superintendence, which reports to a Commission of Cardinals and the Pope. It is not a private bank, as there are no owners or shareholders; it has been established in the form of a juridical canonical foundation, pursuant to its statutes. Since 9 July 2014, its president is Jean-Baptiste de Franssu. The IOR is regulated by the Vatican's financial supervisory body AIF.
The Secretary of State of His Holiness, known as the Cardinal Secretary of State, presides over the Holy See's Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia. The Secretariat of State performs all the political and diplomatic functions of the Holy See and the Vatican City State. The secretary of state is sometimes described as the prime minister of the Holy See, even though the nominal head of government of Vatican City is the President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.
Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B. is a Honduran prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Tegucigalpa from 1993 to 2023. He was president of Caritas Internationalis and served as president of the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) from 1995 to 1999.
The Secretariat of State is the oldest dicastery in the Roman Curia, the central papal governing bureaucracy of the Catholic Church. It is headed by the Cardinal Secretary of State and performs all the political and diplomatic functions of the Holy See. The Secretariat is divided into three sections: the Section for General Affairs, the Section for Relations with States, and, since 2017, the Section for Diplomatic Staff.
In the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church, a congregation is a type of department of the Curia. They are second-highest-ranking departments, ranking below the two Secretariats, and above the pontifical councils, pontifical commissions, tribunals and offices.
Oswald Gracias is an Indian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was appointed Latin Church Archbishop of Bombay by Pope Benedict XVI on 14 October 2006 and was raised to the cardinalate in 2007. In 2008, he became vice-president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India; and in 2010, he was elected president. He was also elected secretary general and then president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences from 2010 to 2019. On 13 April 2013, he was appointed to the eight-member Council of Cardinals, informally the Council of Cardinal Advisers, established by Pope Francis to help with governing the Catholic Church and reforming its central administration. He was mentioned as a possible candidate to succeed Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.
Raffaele Farina SDB is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was Archivist of the Vatican Secret Archives, Librarian of the Vatican Library, and president of Scuola Vaticana di Paleografia, Diplomatica e Archivistica. Farina was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007.
Pietro ParolinOMRI is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal since February 2014, he has served as the Vatican's Secretary of State since October 2013 and a member of the Council of Cardinal Advisers since July 2014. Before that, he worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See for thirty years, where his assignments included terms in Nigeria, Mexico and Venezuela, as well as more than six years as Undersecretary of State for Relations with States.
Giuseppe Bertello is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal since 2012, who was President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governorate of Vatican City State from October 2011 to October 2021. He worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1971 to 2011; became an archbishop in 1987; held appointments as Nuncio to several countries, including Rwanda, Mexico, and Italy; and was the Holy See's representative to a number of international organizations.
Giovanni Angelo Becciu is an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and convicted felon. Pope Francis made him a cardinal on 28 June 2018. On 24 September 2020, he resigned the rights associated with the cardinalate.
Lorenzo Baldisseri is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops from 21 September 2013 until 15 September 2020. He was made a cardinal in 2014. He previously served as Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops after more than twenty years in the diplomatic service of the Holy See that included stints as Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, Paraguay, India, Nepal, and Brazil.
Marcello Semeraro is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints since October 2020. He was previously Bishop of Albano and secretary to the group of cardinals named by Pope Francis to advise him.
The Secretariat for the Economy is a dicastery of the Roman Curia with authority over all economic activities of the Holy See and the Vatican City State.
The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is a pontifical commission within the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church instituted by Pope Francis on 22 March 2014 as an advisory agency serving the pope. Since 5 June 2022, the Commission has been part of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, operating with its oficials and according to its norms.
The Dicastery for Communication is a division (dicastery) of the Roman Curia with authority over all communication offices of the Holy See and the Vatican City State. Its various offices can be accessed through its website. These are the Pope's website and other offices such as Vatican News on internet, the Holy See Press Office, L'Osservatore Romano, Photograph Service, Vatican Radio, Vatican Press, and the Vatican Publishing House. The Pontifical Council for Social Communications has been subsumed into this new Dicastery.
Marco Mellino is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who serves as Secretary of the Council of Cardinals. He has been a bishop since 2018 and worked as Adjunct Secretary to that Council from 2018 to 2020.
Praedicate evangelium is an apostolic constitution reforming the Roman Curia and was published and promulgated on 19 March 2022 by Pope Francis; the document took effect on 5 June 2022.