Vatican City, 2 July 2014 (VIS) – The
Council of Cardinals met on the morning of Tuesday, 1 July at the
Domus Sanctae Marthae, as planned. The Pope is participating in all
the meetings; today, Wednesday morning, he participated in the entire
meeting, as the general Audiences have been suspended. Cardinal
Secretary of State Pietro Parolin is regularly present at the
meetings, and the Holy Father has established that he will
participate fully like the other members of the Council, of whom at
present there are nine.
On Tuesday and on Wednesday morning
three main themes were considered. There was a presentation by
Cardinal Bertello of matters relating to the Governorate, and a
presentation relating to the Secretariat of State by Cardinal
Parolin.
The issue of the structure of the
Institute for Works of Religion (IOR) was discussed in depth. The
meetings, held in two sessions, were also attended by members of the
Supervisory Commission of Cardinals present in Rome, Cardinals Santos
Abril y Castelló, Thomas Collins and Jean-Louis Tauran, as well as
Pietro Parolin.
With regard to the news and questions
circulating in the press in recent days, the Director of the Holy See
Press Office made the following declaration:
“The IOR is in a time of natural and
peaceful transition. The contribution of Ernst von Freyberg continues
to be deeply appreciated and highly valued, and further
clarifications are possible, indeed likely, next week after the
meeting of the Council for the Economy on Saturday”.
The Director then gave a concise
explanation of the agenda of the next meeting of the Council for the
Economy, which will focus on the Statutes and programme for future
work, and will be informed on developments relating to the IOR and –
by the Prefecture for Economic Affairs – on the 2013 budget and the
provisional budget for 2014.
The Director also announced that a
major press conference is expected to be held next week on various
matters, including the IOR, linked to the sphere of competence of the
Council and the Secretariat for the Economy.
The Council is now continuing its
meetings, again taking into consideration and systematically
developing the reflections already formulated in the first round of
study and review of the different bodies of the Roman Curia.