New curia order
Opportunity for lay people and women to get top Vatican jobs
Pope Francis published the new Apostolic Constitution “Predicate Gospel” on Saturday. Photo: Andrew Medichini/AP/dpa
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In the future, important positions in the Vatican could also be occupied by lay people and women. The new basic administrative order breaks with many previous rules of the Roman Curia.
For the first time in the history of the Roman Curia, lay people and even women will soon be able to take over the leadership of important Vatican authorities.
This was emphasized on Monday when the new basic order for the administration of the Papal States was presented. Pope Francis published the new Apostolic Constitution “Praedicate Gospel” on Saturday, which will come into force on June 5th. In this, the pontifex breaks with many of the rules of his predecessors.
One of the most important innovations is that almost all dicasteries – some of which were previously called congregations and are something like the ministries of the Vatican – can also be led by people who are not priests, bishops or even cardinals. “These are no longer exclusion criteria,” said canon lawyer Gianfranco Ghirlanda, commissioned by the Holy See, on Monday.
Women hoping for top jobs
Of the future 16 dicasteries, some are even predestined to be led by the non-ordained, such as that for lay-family life, Ghirlanda emphasized. Under the previous 1988 order, a head of a curial department must be a cardinal or archbishop. Thanks to Francis’ change, women can now hope for a top job in the Vatican.
Francis wants his Curia to reflect the actual Christian world. He places the dissemination of the Holy Scriptures and the work for the needy at the center of the curial constitution; he himself heads the new Dicastery for Evangelization.
In the future, the leading employees of the Curia should come even more from the dioceses from all over the world, Francis would like to see more fluctuation. Therefore, the posts in the Curia should only be awarded for five years. However, there is the possibility of extending the term of office after the first five years, “if you do a good job,” said Ghirlanda, who presented the curial order alongside Cardinal Marcello Semeraro and Bishop Marco Mellino.