Members of the Council (known as the C9 because there are nine cardinals making up the papal advisory group) advise the pope on Church governance and reform.

Its work places a special emphasis on the reform of Pastor Bonus, the apostolic constitution which governs the Roman Curia.

Papal spokesman Greg Burke says Francis sent letters to Cardinals George Pell, Francisco Javier Errazuriz and Laurent Monsengwo at the end of October to thank them for their service to the Council over the past five years.

The letters followed a request the Council made in October for its work, structure and composition to be reviewed, "especially in light of the advanced age of some members."

The Vatican says "considering the phase of the Council's work, the appointment of new members is not expected at the moment."

Francis appointed the C-9 in 2013 to help him reform the Vatican and reorganise its bureaucracy.

That work is coming to an end, with the finalising of a new document outlining the work and mission of the various congregations that make up the universal government of the church and its 1.2 billion members.

Source

• Stuff
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Crux Now

Adding, the work is "nearly complete at the level of proposals made to the Pope.

"I think that within a few months this revision will be more or less complete.

"Then the Pope will have at his disposition the proposals that regard all the Dicasteries and I would expect him to decide how and when to actuate them."

The Council - nicknamed the C9 - have been working on the Curia reform to ensure it meets Pope Francis's aim: that reform must "con-form to the Good News which must be proclaimed joyously and courageously to all, especially to the poor, the least and the outcast".

Francis has said he also expects it to be "guided by ecclesiology and directed in bonum et in servitium, as is the service of the Bishop of Rome.

"It will only work if the men and women who work in the Curia are renewed and not simply replaced," Francis told the C9 when they began the work.

"Permanent formation is not enough; what we need also and above all is permanent conversion and purification. Without a change of mentality, efforts at practical improvement will be in vain."

Semeraro says introducing the changes will be a considered process.

To date Francis has shown a preference for gradual reform, with a kind of "breaking-in" period, he says. This approach allows for corrections as the reform is rolled out from theory to practical reality.

Source

• Vatican Radio
• The Pilot
• Vatican Radio
• Image: Communio