Among the changes of the new Constitution are the promotion of lay people and the generalization of 5-year contracts for priests and religious.
In a letter signed on April 12, 2022, but made public on May 5, Pope Francis instituted an interdicasterial commission for the revision of the General Regulations of the Roman Curia. This organ will have a limited existence. Its objective is to prepare the implementation of the norms relating to the new Apostolic Constitution predicate evangeliumwhich was made public on March 19 and will come into force on June 5, the day of Pentecost.
The president of the commission will be Bishop Filippo Iannone, who also chairs the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, which will become a “dicastery” on June 5. The other members are: Msgr. Edgar Peña Parra, deputy of the Secretariat of State; Msgr. Nunzio Galantino, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See; Archbishop Marco Mellino, Secretary of the Council of Cardinals; Father Juan Guerrero Alves, Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy; and Vincenzo Buonomo, rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, who will be the only lay person to participate in the commission.
Changes to the new regulations
The revision of the General Regulations of the Roman Curia should bring them into conformity “not only with the norms but also with the principles which inspire the constitutional text” made public on March 19 “on the Roman Curia and its service to the Church in the world “. said the pope in the chirograph. “The new regulations should also make working relationships within the Roman Curia and their management more sustainable and effective,” he said.
Among the main lines of action introduced by the new Constitution are the promotion of lay people – including at the head of certain dicasteries – and the generalization of 5-year contracts for priests and religious, in order to promote a turnover supposed to rejuvenate and energize the structures. However, this principle is difficult to implement. The sensitive and complex nature of some of the issues dealt with by the organs of the Curia requires a great deal of experience and expertise, and the Vatican could encounter recruitment difficulties if all the staff leaves after five or ten years.
Extensions and renewals of these theoretically time-limited contracts therefore seem likely. The new Regulations will have to specify this articulation between the theoretical principles and the necessary practical adaptations intended to guarantee a certain continuity in the conduct of the Vatican administration.
