Pope Francis has authorized baptized Catholic laity, including women, to run any of the Vatican's departments as part of a new constitution published Saturday at the Holy See.
In the document known as
Praedicate Evangelium
(Preach the Gospel), which consists of 54 pages, it is made clear that "the Pope, the bishops and other ordained ministers are not the only evangelizers in the Church," according to the agency of Reuters news.
It is also indicated that any person baptized under the Catholic faith can have responsibilities and "functions of government" in the central administration known as the Roman Curia.
Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general audience in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall. Alessandra Tarantino / AP
Vatican departments have historically been run by cardinals and bishops, who have secretaries and advisers.
This new constitution replaces the 1988 one published by Pope John Paul II and began to be drafted months after Francis was ordained as the highest pontiff in 2013.
The historic change is due to the fact that lay Catholics have contact with "social reality," according to the new constitution that will come into force on June 5 and that was published in the middle of the celebration of Saint Joseph's Day.
"Every Christian, by virtue of Baptism, is a missionary disciple to the extent that he has found the love of God in Christ Jesus. He cannot be ignored in the updating of the Curia," says the document.
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According to The Wall Street Journal, any person who has the profile for any of the positions will be able to preside over it.
The constitution does not specify which positions in the Roman Curia will have vacancies, but according to the publication, the Vatican Secretary of State and the head of the Vatican Supreme Court would continue to be positions held by cardinals.
Prevention of sexual abuse
Another of the major changes of this new constitution is the incorporation of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, adviser to the Pope for the prevention of sexual abuse, to a department with greater authority such as the Office of the Doctrine of Faith of the Vatican, which is in charge of supervising investigations of this type.
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According to The Associated Press news agency, the commission existed as a non-permanent group that reported to the Pope, but lacked real institutional power and its positions were often at odds with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, another office of high power that reviews all cases of abuse.
The change allows abuse survivors, who are part of the commission, to influence decisions involving priests identified as child molesters.
This is added to other modifications in the organization chart of the Vatican such as the creation of the dicastery for evangelization, a department within the curia that will include the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, as explained by the newspaper El País of Spain.
In addition, a Charity Service department is also created and the Departments of Culture and Education are merged.
