Council of Cardinals with Pope

Last April, Pope Francis appointed eight cardinals to assist him in an advisory capacity. Their main goal is to propose reforms in the Roman Curia. The eight cardinals are: Sean O'Malley OFM Cap. of Boston, the emeritus of Santiago de Chile, Francisco Javier Errázuriz, Oswald Gracias of Bombay, Reinhard Marx of Munich, Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, George Pell of Sydney, Giuseppe Bertello from the Curia and the coordinator of the project, Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga SDB of Tegucigalpa. The secretary of the group is Bishop Marcelo Semeraro of Albano.

These men are entrusted with the open-ended mandate of advising the Pope "in the governance of the universal church" with a particular emphasis on the reform of the Roman Curia. In his interview with La Reppublica, Francis said his choices to comprise the body were “not courtiers but wise and animated people of the same leanings as mine”. Calling the group "my council," Francis declared that its convocation marked "the beginning of a church with an organization [that's] not only vertical but also horizontal."

The council members were concelebrants with the pontiff at the morning's usual Mass, at which he prayed in their name "that our work today will make us all more humble, more meek, more patient, more trusting in God, so that the church can give a beautiful witness to the people, and seeing the People of God, seeing the church, they might feel the desire to come with us."

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