Pope moves pastoral care of tourism to Dicastery for Evangelization

By Vatican News

The pastoral care of tourism has now passed from the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development to the Dicastery for Evangelization. Pope Francis communicated the decision in a Rescript on Saturday following an audience on 7 September with Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Human Development. 

As stated in the document, which went into effect on the same day, 1 October 2022, the Pope "decided to transfer competence for the pastoral care of the faithful who undertake travel for piety, study, or recreational purposes from the same Dicastery (for Promoting Integral Human Development) to the Section for Fundamental Questions of Evangelization in the World of the Dicastery for Evangelization."

Pastor Bonus

The Rescript recalls John Paul II's Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus of 28 June 1988.

It said that, "drawing inspiration from the magisterium of the Second Vatican Council," the Polish Pope had assigned "the competence both of the pastoral care of exiles, migrants, nomads, circus people, seafarers and air transport workers, and of the spiritual care of those who travel" to the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.

Transfer of competencies

With Humanam progressionem, the motu proprio published on 17 August 2016, Pope Francis had established at that time the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, which brought under its management the merger of four Pontifical Councils: Justice and Peace, Health Care Workers, Cor Unum, and, precisely, Migrants and Itinerants.

As a result, the competencies of that Pontifical Council were transferred to the newly-created Dicastery. Later, Pope Francis with a new motu proprio, Sanctuarium in Ecclesia of 11 February 2017 ensured that some areas of responsibility of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization were transferred to the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People, namely those mentioned in paragraph 151 of Pastor Bonus, which states that the Dicastery " works to ensure that journeys which Christians undertake for reasons of piety, study, or recreation, contribute to their moral and religious formation, and it is available to the particular Churches in order that all who are away from home receive suitable spiritual care."

Praedicate Evangelium

Finally, Praedicate Evangelium, the new apostolic constitution in force since 5 June, spelled out the reform of the Roman Curia by Pope Francis and abrogated Pastor Bonus.

The new Constitution called for "a redistribution of the aforementioned competencies," as noted in Saturday's Rescript, and therefore the transfer of responsbility to the Dicastery for Evangelization.