Pope Francis: Curia must provide key positions for women and laity

Culture&Arts Adina Camarasu
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Pope Francis insisted on Thursday on the need to continue an essential reform of the Church, precisely of the Curia, considering that key positions should be offered to the laity and women worldwide, reports France Presse.

Addressing his annual greetings to the Curia, the Pope centered his speech on the reform that lasts for almost four years now, stressing that it should not be limited to a simple ‘lifting’, as Church needn’t worry about the ‘wrinkles’, but ‘the tasks’.

Pope cited 12 criteria that should guide the reform. Among them was the ‘catholicity’ of the Church – in the etymological sense of universality – which calls for the promotion of the foreign staff, including the permanent deacons and faithful laity, both men and women, especially in dicasteries (ministries) which may be more competent than priests.

‘It is of great importance to emphasize the role of women and the laity in the Church’s life and integrate them into key positions of dicasteries’, Francis emphasized in his speech.

So far, all the heads of dicasteries, including the newest ones, appointed by the Argentine pontiff, are ecclesiastics.

Looking through all the measures taken since the beginning of his pontificate, the Pope underlined the importance of the reform to be accompanied by a ‘change of mentality’.

In his view, it is not enough to change the staff, but it is necessary that ‘the members of the Curia renew their spiritual, human and professional aspects’.

‘The reform is not an aesthetic objective. It cannot appear as a sort of facelift, a makeup or a beauty trick to make the old part of the Curia more appealing’, said the Pope.