Vatican City: India's Oswald Gracias was among eight high-ranking cardinals from around the world who were on Saturday appointed by Pope Francis in an advisory council to look into ways of reforming the Vatican bureaucracy. The council will help the Pope revise the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia Pastor bonus - the Church administration which helps him in the daily governance, the Vatican said in a statement.
Pope John Paul II had issued Pastor Bonus in 1988. "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," it said.
68-year-old Gracias currently serves as Archbishop of Bombay (Mumbai), having been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006. He was raised to the cardinalate in 2007.
Besides Gracias, the group is composed of Giuseppe Bertello, President of the Governatorate of Vatican City State; Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, Archbishop emeritus of Santiago del Cile (Chile); Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munchen und Freising (Germany); Laurent Monswengo Pasinya, Archbishop of Kinshasa (Congo); Sean Patrick O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston (US); George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney; Oscar Andres Maradiaga Rodriguez, Archbishop of Boston Tegucigalpa (Honduras)....
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06:34 PM, Apr 13, 2013
Black smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel for a second day on Wednesday after a secret conclave of cardinals held two more inconclusive votes for a new Pope to lead the troubled Roman Catholic Church. Following an initial split ballot when they were first shut away amid the chapel's Renaissance splendour on Tuesday evening, the 115 cardinal electors held a first full day of deliberations but many Vatican watchers expected...
10:50 PM, Mar 13, 2013
After a first inconclusive vote, Cardinals began the process of choosing a new pope in earnest on Wednesday, praying for inspiration at the start of the first full day in a conclave to choose a leader to face a major crisis in the Catholic Church. ...
04:00 PM, Mar 13, 2013
Over the past century, no conclave has lasted more than five days and the fastest vote was for Pope Pius XII. Twice prelates from North America missed the vote because they couldn't get to Rome in time, and a Hungarian cardinal sat out two conclaves because he was holed up in the US Embassy in Budapest seeking asylum. ...
05:24 PM, Mar 12, 2013
Roman Catholic Cardinals begin a conclave on Tuesday to elect the Church's 266th pontiff and a successor to Pope Benedict, who abdicated unexpectedly in February. The 115 cardinal electors under the age of 80 prayed for divine help on Tuesday, hours before entering the frescoed Sistine Chapel on Tuesday afternoon. ...
04:37 PM, Mar 12, 2013
Roman Catholic cardinals gather under the gaze of Michelangelo's "Last Judgment" on Tuesday to elect a new pope to tackle the daunting problems facing the 1.2-billion-member Church at one of the most difficult periods in its history. ...
02:58 PM, Mar 12, 2013
Cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday to elect the next pope amid more upheaval and uncertainty than the Catholic Church has seen in decades: There's no front-runner, no indication how long voting will last and no sense that a single man has what it takes to fix the many problems. ...
12:25 PM, Mar 12, 2013
Roman Catholic cardinals gather under the gaze of Michelangelo's "Last Judgment" on Tuesday to elect a new pope to tackle the daunting problems facing the 1.2-billion-member Church. ...
07:10 AM, Mar 12, 2013
Cardinals have gathered for their final day of talks before the conclave to elect the next pope amid debate over whether the Catholic Church needs a manager pope to clean up the Vatican's messy bureaucracy or a pastoral pope who can inspire the faithful and make Catholicism relevant again. ...
05:10 PM, Mar 11, 2013
Vatican officials on Wednesday told cardinals gathered for the election of the next pope to stop speaking to the media, as further indications emerged that a conclave would not start early next week as had been expected. ...
06:15 AM, Mar 07, 2013
Cardinals have gathered in Vatican City to work on a timetable to choose the next pope amidst sex abuse scandals that have resurfaced to haunt the church. ...
09:10 AM, Mar 05, 2013
Cardinals said on Monday they want to talk to Vatican managers about allegations of corruption and cronyism within the top levels of the Catholic Church before they elect the next pope, evidence that a scandal over leaked papal documents is casting a shadow over the conclave and setting up one of the most unpredictable papal elections in recent times. ...
05:06 AM, Mar 05, 2013
reparations for electing Roman Catholicism's new leader begin in earnest on Monday as the College of Cardinals opens daily talks to sketch an identikit for the next pope and ponder who among them might fit it. The idea is to have the new pope elected during next week and officially installed several days later so he can preside over the Holy Week ceremonies starting with Palm Sunday on March 24...
11:25 AM, Mar 04, 2013
Pope Benedict left the Vatican on Thursday and headed to the papal summer residence where he will become the first pontiff in six centuries to resign instead of ruling for life. A white Italian air force helicopter lifted off from the Vatican's heliport to fly the 85-year-old pope to Castel Gandolfo, just south of Rome, where at 8 pm (1900 GMT) he will resign and leave the papacy vacant. ...
10:45 PM, Feb 28, 2013
Pope Benedict asked the faithful to pray for him and for the next pope, in his penultimate Sunday address to a crowded St Peter's Square before becoming the first pontiff in centuries to resign. The crowd chanted "Long live the pope!," waved banners and broke into sustained applause as he spoke from his window. ...
01:46 PM, Feb 18, 2013
Pope Benedict made six non-European prelates Roman Catholic cardinals on Saturday, chipping away at the old continent's domination of the elite group that will one day elect his successor. ...
01:58 AM, Nov 25, 2012
Vatican City: Pope Benedict, putting his stamp on the future of Roman Catholicism, named 22 new cardinals on Friday, the red-hatted "princes of the Church" who are his closest aides and will one day choose his successor. One of the most prominent on the list is Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York. Others are from Italy, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, India, Canada, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Germany, China, Romania,...
06:27 PM, Jan 06, 2012
