• About
  • Resources

The Theology Forum

~ Smile! You’re at the best WordPress.com site ever

The Theology Forum

Tag Archives: balda

Pope Francis involves the laity in Vatican reform

23 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by tbeattie2012 in announcement, theology forum

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

balda, chaouqui, franssu, laity, llano, messemer, papacy, pope francis, vatican, videlain-sevestre, yeo, zahra

Last Friday Reuters reported that Pope Francis has formed a commission to tackle Vatican reform.

Made up of seven international lay experts and one cleric, the commission will report directly to the pope and advise him on economic affairs, improving transparency and enforcing accounting principles.

Its members will have the right to examine any paper and digital document in the Vatican…

… The new commission’s lay members are experts in economics, finance, management and law and come from Spain, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Malta and France, the Vatican said in a statement. The cleric will act as the commission’s secretary…

… Francis ordered all Vatican departments to collaborate with the commission and bypass usual rules that oblige officials to respect the secrecy of their office.

As Daniel Horan points out on his blog Dating God, this announcement is getting little media coverage, despite the unprecedented nature of the commission. He provides a link to Vatican Radio’s coverage, which includes a list of the members:

Dr. Joseph FX Zahra (Malta), President

Msgr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda (Secretary of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs), Secretary

Mr Jean-Baptiste de Franssu (France)

Dr. Enrique Llano (Spain)

Dr. Jochen Messemer (Germany)

Ms. Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui (Italy)

Mr. Jean Videlain-Sevestre (France)

Mr. George Yeo (Singapore)

So not only has the Pope convened a commission composed almost entirely of lay people, it includes one female member (though it should be noted that it is overwhelming European). It remains to be seen what the commission will be able to accomplish, but this announcement is yet another move suggesting that Francis marks a real departure from previous Vatican administrations. The hopes for a greater role for the laity, expressed at last week’s symposium on the Role of Lay Catholic Theologians, may actually be fulfilled!

Advertisements

Categories

  • announcement (7)
  • announcements (2)
  • essay (8)
  • events (2)
  • links round up (3)
  • questions (1)
  • Research Seminars (7)
  • theology forum (14)
  • Uncategorized (24)

alban mccoy alexander stille amy davidson andrew cooke argentina augusto zampini austen ivereigh authority bbc beattie brian flanagan bridges and tangents cardinal leonardo sandri cardinals Catholic church catholicism catholic voices comment is free Digby Stuart Research Centre doctrine dsrc durham ecclesiology Gavin D'Costa gay marriage guardian hegel homosexuality human rights jean porter john cassidy john henry newman john noonan joseph selling lacan lay theology links magisterium marriage moral teaching national catholic reporter natural law news Nicholas Lash notre dame papabile of the day papacy papal resignation papal transition Paul Lakeland philosophy of religion pope pope benedict pope francis pound psychoanalysis ray flynn religion reproduction rights rocco palmo roman catholic church samuel kimbriel seminar sexuality simon oliver stephen wang the new yorker theology theology forum the other journal the tablet tina beattie University of Roehampton vatican

Archives

  • July 2013
  • May 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • March 2012

Blogroll

  • Digby Stuart Research Centre for Religion, Society and Human Flourishing
Advertisements

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.