Pope commends Cardinal’s explanation of curial reform document

By Christopher Wells

Pope Francis has praised Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga for a new interview in which the President of the Council of Cardinal Advisors discusses the new Apostolic Constitution Praedicate evangelium and the reform of the Roman Curia.

The Holy Father notes that the ongoing reform has its roots in the Second Vatican Council, and has been pursued by his immediate predecessors going back to Pope St Paul VI. More immediately, Pope Francis recalls that in the General Congregations prior to the Conclave that elected him, the Cardinals strongly urged that the new Pope would undertake a new reform of the Curia, a reform they saw as urgent and necessary.

That reform took a major step forward earlier this year, with the publication of the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate evangelium, which instituted significant changes to the structure and organization of the Curia. In his preface, Pope Francis commends Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga’s explanation of the meaning and goals of the Apostolic Constitution, while at the same time noting that Praedicate evangelium is simply one part – albeit a very important part – of the greater work of reform.

Structural and organizational reforms, the Pope says, “are certainly necessary, but what is really important is the renewal of people’s minds and hearts.”

The Pope points out, too, that the work of reform is a constant concern of the Church. “Laws and documents are always limited, and almost always ephemeral,” the Pope reminds us, acknowledging that as the world constantly changes, “the Church, in her constant dialogue with the world, with a firm foot in the origins and faithful to Tradition, will again adapt her life and her human structures to the changing conditions of the times.”

The interview with Cardinal Maradiaga, including the Pope’s preface, bears the title “Praedicate Evangelium: A new curia for a new time.”