Pope Francis has appointed a Group of Eight cardinals to advise him in the governance of the Universal Church. In a communique issued Saturday the Secretariat of State announced that the Holy Father decided to set up the Council following on from discussions that emerged during the General Congregations in the lead up to the Conclave which elected him the 265th Successor to St Peter.
The group of Cardinals will be coordinated by Card. Oscar Andrés Maradiaga RodrÃguez and is drawn from across the Universal Church. It will also help Pope Francis revise the Apostolic Consitution on the Roman Curia Pastor bonus.
Its membership is certainly drawn from right across the Roman Catholic world – two South Americans, one Asian, two Europeans (including the Vatican rep), one African, one from Oceania and one North American.
Technically, Honduras is in North America, but culturally it probably should be considered South American. Catholics blogs are filled with comments working overt this list, and to that I will not add. It is worth noting that Papa Benedict had such a council, though with a slightly different remit.
Its not clear exactly.what about the curia needs reform. The problems we hear about are corruption, immorality, and inefficiency. Those are personnel, perhaps management problems. Its not clear how tweaking the system is going to clear up anything.