On 21 April the heads of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and the Dicastery for Evangelisation signed a memorandum of understanding to improve assistance to victims of abuse, bishops and local churches both in mission countries and emerging communities.

New Zealand's primary relationship with the Vatican is through the Dicastery for Evangelisation.

Virginia Noonan, National Director of NOPS, told CathNews "The National Office for Professional Standards looks forward to receiving more details about the memorandum of understanding."

It is proposed that the enhanced collaboration will come with a number of benefits: sharing resources, information and formation and "promoting concrete structural change to build a culture of safeguarding."

For now, however, it remains uncertain what additional benefits the new relationship will bring survivors, NOPS and the NZ Church.

Nor is it clear what New Zealand may be able to share.

Commission president US Cardinal Seán O'Malley of Boston who spent many years as "a missionary bishop" when he ministered in the US Virgin Islands, says he understands what it is like to run a diocese with very limited resources.

He says the commission hopes to work with the dioceses that are under the dicastery's purview.

The commission's aim is to "help them to be able to develop programmes, to be able to receive victims" in ways that also offer needed pastoral outreach and care, not just the correct "juridical practices," he says.

It also aims to help the dioceses in safeguarding and prevention work so "our churches, schools and communities will be safe places for children and young people."

The controversial sex abuse commission has suffered several resignations, with former members being unhappy with the Commission's processes.

The latest resignation is respected expert Fr Hans Zollner.

Zollner resigned citing disagreements over how the body is being operated.

"I have noticed issues that need to be urgently addressed and that have made it impossible for me to continue further," he said in a candid message published on social media.

In his critique of the Commission, Zollner said he had "grown increasingly concerned" with the Vatican's safeguarding commission and its lack of "responsibility, compliance, accountability and transparency."

"I am convinced that these are principles that any Church institution, let alone the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, is bound to uphold," he said.

Cardinal Luis Tagle, Prefect for the Dicastery for Evangelisation, describes the new collaboration as "a welcome development."

Among its other functions, the Dicastery for Evangelisation is responsible for appointing New Zealand bishops.

New Zealand's last member on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors was former NOPS head, Mr Bill Killgallon.

Killgallon's involvement ended in 2016.

Source

• NCR Online
• Supplied
• NCR Online

The role of women in the Vatican hierarchy was one of the many Church and international topics the 85-year-old pontiff discussed in an interview last Saturday.

A new constitution for the Holy See's central administration that came into effect last month allows any baptised Catholic, including lay men and women, to head most Vatican departments.

"For the first time, two women will be named to the Congregation of Bishops' commission that chooses bishops," Francis said.

"In this way, things are opening up a bit."

Francis did not specify who would be appointed to what is now called the Dicastery for Bishops or when these appointments would take place.

Until a few months ago, the idea of women being allowed to select bishops was unimaginable in the eyes of several senior Vatican officials.

Members of the committee, which is now made up cardinals, bishops and priests, usually meet twice a month in Rome.

They vet candidates to govern for roughly half of the world's dioceses, those in countries with a longstanding Christian presence.

The Dicastery for Evangelisation is responsible for dealing with bishops' appointments in places considered mission territory.

Both dicasteries generally examine the top three candidates the apostolic nuncio puts forth to lead a particular diocese. The members of each dicastery decide on one of them and the name is submitted to the pope for his consideration.

Last year, for the first time, Francis named a woman to the number two position in the governorship of Vatican City, making Sister Raffaella Petrini the highest-ranking woman in the city state.

Men or women could head Vatican departments like the department for Catholic Education and Culture and the Apostolic Library. They are currently headed by male clerics.

Francis has already named a number women, both nuns and lay women, to Vatican departments.

Last year, he named Italian nun Sister Alessandra Smerilli to the number two position in the Vatican's development office, which deals with justice and peace issues.

Lay women already holding top jobs in the Vatican include the first female director of the Vatican Museums and the deputy director of the Vatican Press Office. Both were appointed by Francis.

Source

• Reuters
• La Croix

Pope Francis and the council of cardinals propose all activity in the Roman Curia should be united under a simple mission: evangelisation.

The new constitution, "Praedicate Evangelium" ("Preach the Gospel"), is expected to set up a new "super dicastery" for evangelisation that would give it prominence among all Vatican bodies.

This would mean a lesser role for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly the Holy Office of the Inquisition, the oldest institution in the Curia and known as "La Suprema".

For years it policed theologians, set out the boundaries of Catholic doctrine and vetted all major Vatican documents.

Under Francis, the congregation has taken more of a back-seat role.

"Pope Francis always emphasises that the church is missionary. That is why it is logical that in first place we have put the Dicastery for Evangelisation and not the Doctrine of the Faith," said Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, the coordinator of the council of cardinals.

"In this way the Holy Father has sent a significant message of reform to the people of God."

The new constitution puts evangelisation at the heart of the Roman Curia's mission. This means every aspect of Catholicism's civil service must flow from it.

The changes also send a signal to dioceses around the world to follow suit.

Along with evangelisation, the constitution makes clear that the Curia is there to serve both the pope and the local church. This means that diocesan bishops are going to be placed at the same level as prefects in Vatican departments.

Other changes in the new constitution include the establishment of the Pontifical Council for the Protection of Minors as part of the Curia.

This would give the child-protection body greater authority and make it more effective. One of the difficulties the commission has faced to date has been a lack of any legal status in the Vatican.

In addition, it is rumoured that the constitution will set up a new dicastery that carries out charitable works in the name of the pope.

Source

• America Magazine
• Chicago Catholic
• Image: NCR