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PAGE 2 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1963
REFORMS AND DECENTRALIZATION
Roman Curia
VATICAN CITY (NC>— Fol
lowing is the text of an English
translation of His Holiness Pope
Paul Vi's September 21 address
announcing that he plans re
forms within the Roman Curia,
the central administration of the
Church:
Venerable Brothers
Dearest Sons!
and
It is easy to understand the
motives that have prompted Us
to call this meeting. We have
desired to meet with the Roman
Curia, that is to say with the
persons of the Cardinals, the
major and minor officials, the
ecclesiastics, the directors and
employees who work in the sa
cred congregations, the tribun
als, and the offices, together
with the various bodies and
institutions of which the Pope
makes use for governing the
Universal Church, as well as the
Diocese of Rome and Vatican
City.
We have desired, as We were
saying, this meeting at the beg
inning of Our apostolic min
istry, above all to give all here
present Our cordial and rever
ent greeting in an explicit and
collective way. We Ourself have
had the honor to give Our hum
ble service in the Roman Curia
for many years. In the ranks
that compose it We have had
very worthy superiors and tea
chers, excellent colleagues,
collaborators and unforgettable
friends. We have shared in the
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labors, responsiblities, stud
ies experiences, joys and sor
rows of this complex and uni
que organism. We have follo
wed, for more than 30 years,
the development of its life from
a privileged observation point—
the Secretariat of State, the
excellent and dear and faithful
office which assists the Pope
in his personal activity.
WE HAVE THUS been able to
appreciate better the wise com
position of the Roman Curia,
derived from a coherent and fle
xible tradition. We have listened
to suggestions pertinent to the
new needs of this very organ
ism; We have gathered also
the criticisms which have been
addressed to it, and We have
often made them the object of
sincere reflection. Finally We
have known and appreciated the
efficiency of the services that
the Roman Curia renders the
Papacy and the Church.
It has therefore seemed toUs
a duty from the beginning of Our
apostolic ministry, to give a
sign of Our fatherly benevolence
to the people who direct and
form the Roman Curia, and
to make them feel how much We
like and how anxious We are to
feel in communion with it, not
only in the specific activity
that engages the whole of it and
in the spirit with which the com
mon service has to be accomp
lished, for the well being and
good example of the whole Ch
urch and its mission in the
in the world, and for the glory
of Him who is everything to
Us, the Lord Jesus Christ.
THEREFORE ACCEPT, Car
dinals, and accept Venera
ble Brothers and Beloved Sons,
the expression of Our esteem,
Our gratitude, Our encourage
ment. Also, maintain for Us—
in time and in merit the last
of the servants of the servants
of God—for Our very modest
persons, for Our highly difficult
mission, the comfort of your
constant solidarity, yourjHlial
obedience, your worthwhile col
laboration; also, as We were
saying, of your intimate com-
munio n which joins not only
hands and minds to Our office
but also feelings, prayers, the
charity of your hearts to Our
heart, which if the Lord assists
Us hopes to be for you all
the heart of a friend a pastor
and a father.
Another reason for this
meeting has been suggested to
Us by the extremely beautiful
and serious time through which
the whole Church, is -called to
live, certainly by divine design
—a historical time, a Ecume
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nical Council, which as Is known
will reopen Its solemn sess
ions in a few days.
IT HAS seemed opportune to
Us that the Roman Curia take
congnizance together with Us of
this great event, not because
the Curia is unprepared-Since
on the contrary it awaits it and
is busily occupying itself with
it; and not because the Curia
has neglected to meditate on the
enormous importance of the
council during its first ses
sion since Its extraordinary and
complex dimensions were on the
contrary discerned more fijlly
by the Curia than by anot
her sector of the Church and of
public opinion. The Curia's con
cern was such as to show at
times some amazement and
apprehension about such an
unexpected and sudden concil-
ian convocation and about the
gravity of the problems that It
would raise.
It seemed opportune, there
fore, that the Curia and We be
aware of this great event in
order that such knowledge may
be deepend in all of us, may be
made uniofrm and trustful, and
may be intimately penetrated
by the conviction that a great
and mysterious event, guided
by the Holy Spirit, is happening
at the tomb of the Prince of
the Apostles. This event is sur
rounding this providential cen
ter of the Catholic Church in
the mighty flow of those hid
den powers of God’s kingdom
which make its functions stand
out, which show its cardinal
position in the history of re
deemed humanity, and which
severely and publicly tries its
virtues, almost as if to const
rain it to be, as it should be,
the light of wisdom and of hol
iness to the whole world.
THE HOUR is great and it is
sacred. We, and you before oth
ers, members of the Roman
Curia, must live it with deep
understanding and with magna
nimous heart. Let the first ex
pression of this due proport
ion of our spirit to the great
ness of the event be unifor
mity of will, or rather of fer
vor, for its worthy celebration.
Let it be identity of outlook.
He who wanted the Second Vat
ican Council is a pope to whom
truly the spontaneous acclama
tion of the public voice attri
buted the Gospel words about
the forerunner of Christ: "The
re was a man, one sent from
God, whose name was John."
We believe history will repeat
such words when it registers
the salutary consequences of the
sudden, splendid decision of the
one who called the Catholic
Church to the Council and op-
ended doors and heart to the
separated brothers for a sin
cere reconciliation. But what
ever the orgins of the Coun
cil's convocation, it is the Pope
who proclaimed it, theVIcar of
Christ. It is that successor of
St. Peter whom the Roman Cur
ia, second to no one, recogni
zes as its bishop, its teacher,
its head. We are certain that
no hesitations regarding the
chief desires of the Pontiff
will ever come from the Roman
Curia; or of feelings with re
gard to judgments or feelings
of the Pope. If ever such con
formity of minds with what the
Pope commands or desires be
its law and its pride, this is
the moment to give it firm and
open profession.
AND SINCE We know that this
is, and is intended to be, the
resolution of each and every one
making up the Roman Curia, We
have in turn desired, with this
meeting, to give praise and en
couragement to that filial, har-
monous, joyous unison of your
thoughts and your resolutions
with those of the Pope, who to
day has made his own the heri
tage of John XXIII of happy me
mory, and makes ofthat heri
tage a program for the entire
Church.
Such accord between the Pope
and his Curia is a constant
norm. Not only in the great hou
rs of history does such ac-
accord reveal its existence and
its strength. It is always in
force, in every way and in every
act of the pontifical ministry,
as it is proper for the organ
of immediate adherence and of
absolute obedience which the
Roman Pontiff utilizes to carry
out his universal mission. It
is this essential relation of the
Roman Curia to the exercise of
the Pope’s Apostolic activity
which is the justification or ra
ther the glory, of the Curia
itself. From that same relat
ionship arises its necessity, its
usefulness, its dignity and its
Sc
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authority. In fact, .this body,
the Roman Curia Is* the inst
rument which the Pope needs
and which the Pope utilizes to
fulfill his own divine mandate,
A most worthy instrument, and
it is no wonder that everyone,
and We above all, asks so much
of it, demands so much of itl
Its workings demand the highest
ability and virtue, precisely be
cause its office is the highest.
Its functions are most delicate,
such as that of watching over
or echoing divine truth, and
of transforming it into a langu
age and dialogue with human
minds. Its functions are very
vast, such as that which has
as its boundries the whole
universe. Its functions are most
noble, such as that of hearing
and interpreting the voice of
the Pope and at the same time
not letting him lack any useful
and objective information, any
filial and well-considered ad-
vce.
BECAUSE TO BE worthy of
its task the Roman Curia must
be very learned and highly ex
pert, as you know—you desire
this, and you yourselves have
been more eager, even before
your critics and evenmorethan
they. It must be equal through
special virtues to the ever new
and growing demands of your
office.
We said critics 1 Ye% because
it is known that criticism has
been addressed to the Roman
Curia, along with much praise
and recognition of its indisput
able merits. As We have hinted,
this phenomenon derives above
all from the nature and from the
purpose of the Curia Itself. The
measure of giving is never filled
up where it concerns the service
of Christ's cause and the cause
of souls.
THAT SUCH a phenomenon
appears from time to time along
the path of ecclesiastical his
tory is therefore understand
able and providential. It is a
prod to watchfulness, a recall
to observance, an Invitation to
reform, a ferment to perfection
We must accept the criticisms
that surrc d us, with humility
with reflection, and even with
gratitude. Rome has no need to
defend itself by making itself
deaf to suggestions that come to
it from honest voices, espec
ially if these voices are those of
friends and of brothers. To ac
cusations, so often groundless,
it will reply; it will defend its
honor; but without stubborn
ness, without hurling back char
ges, without polemics.
Meanwhile, it can be observed
today that the resolution to mo
dernize juridical structures and
deepen spiritual consciousness
not only finds no resistance in
the center of the Church, the
Roman Curia. It finds, rather,
the Curia itself in the advance
guard of that perennial reform
of which the Church itself, inso
far as it is a human and earthly
institution, has perpetual need.
IT IS FROM Rome that today
comes the invitation to the
"aggionamento" (according to
the expression used by Our ven
erated predecessor), that is to
the perfecting of everything
concerning the Church, internal
and external.
It is from Rome that has come
the announcement of the reform
of the Code of Canon Law, of
that very law, that is, which
solemnly rules the ecclesias
tical city and world. It is from
Rome that in these last hundred
years has come that regular,
untiring, coherent, stimulating
government which has brought
the entire Church to th e point
not only of external expansion—
which all must recognize—but
of interior sensitivity and vit
ality, also of treasures and my
steries with which Christ has
endowed it. Today, happily, St.
Bernard would no longer write
his burning pages on the Roman
ecclesiastical world. Norwould
the reformers of the 16the cen
tury have written theirs.
PAPAL ROME today is en-
tirewly different, and by the
grace of God so much more wor-
they and wise and holy; so much
more conscious of its evangel
ical calling, so much more
deeply immersed in its Christ-
eager for, and therefore sus
ceptible to, perennial renewal.
This We say, Venerable Bro
thers and Dearest Sons of the
Roman Curia, with a threefold
purpose: to praise you, to bring
you peace, and to exhort you.
Praise is in fact owed to the
faithful, competent, devoted
service that you render the Holy
See and the Pope, and therefore
to the entire Catholic Church as
well. The Roman Curia, as exe
cutor of the will fo him who has
the responsibility and the power
to feed the Church itself, and
It merits Ours.
THE PEACE that We would
like on this occasion to infuse
in Our Curia concerns the pos
sible reforms which should be
adopted In its regard. That some
reforms should be introduced in
the Roman Curia is not only
easy to realize but good to de
sire. As everybody knows this
old and complex organization
traces back in its current form
to Pope Sixtus V’s celebrated
constitution fo 1588, Immensa
Aeterni Dei. St. Pius X gave
it new life with the constitution
Sapienti Consilio of 1908, and
the Code of Canon Law, in 1917,
made this substantially its own
form.
Many years have passed. It
is understandable, therefore,
how such and establishment
would have grown ponderous
with its own venerable age, how
it feels the disparity of its
organs and of its practices with
respect to the needs and cus
toms of new times, how at the
same time it feels the need of
being simplified and decentral
ized and the need of being broad
ened and made fit for new
functions.
THEREFORE various re
forms will be needed. They will
certainly be weighed. They will
be drawn up according to vener
able and reasonable traditions
on the one hand, and ac ording
to the needs of the times on
the other. They certainly will be
functional and beneficial, be
cause ephemeral and superflu
ous in the forms and in the forms
and in the norms that regulate
the Roman Curia, and of putting
into being what is vital and ser
viceable for its efficient and
proper functioning. They will be
formulated , propagated ■ by the
Curia itself 1
Therefore the Roman Curia
will not be afraid of being re
cruited with a broader suprana
tional vision, or of being edu
cated with a more ac urate ec
umenical preparation. Did not
St. Bernard say, even in his
time: "Why not choose from the
whole world those who one day
will have to judge the whole wor
ld?" (De Consideratione IV,)
THE ROMAN Curia will not
be jealous of the temporal pre
rogatives of former times, of
exterior forms no longer suit
able for the expression of high
religious meanings. Nor will
it be miserly of its faculties
which the episcopacy, without
damaging the universal eccles
iastical order, can today exer
cise better by itself and locally.
Nor will economic purpose and
advantages ever carry weight in
organs of the Holy See if that is
not required by good ecclesias
tical order and by die salvation
of souls.
It is the sacred rule of the
departments of the Roman Cu
ria to question the bishops and
to avail themselves of their
judgment In handling business.
Among the consultors of the
sacred congregations are found
not a few bishops, coming from
various regions. We shall say
more: Should the Ecumenical
Council evince a desire of see
ing some representatives of the
episcopacy, particularly among
prelates who direct a diocese,
associated in a certain way and
for certain questions, in con
formity with the Church’s doct
rine and Canon Law.iththe sup
reme head of the Church in the
study and responsibility of ec
clesiastical government, the
Curia will surely not oppose it.
On the contrary it will sense the
growth of the honor and the bur
den of its sublime and indis
pensable service, which, aside
from the due procedure of the
ecclesiastical tribunals, both in
the ROMAN Curia and in dio
ceses, we will know, is spec
ifically administrative, consul
tative and executive.
ONCE AGAIN the Roman
Curia thus will feel, in a stron
ger way, its calling to good
example before the whole Ch
urch and the world at large.
It is thfs exhortation that We
dare to address to you in a
paternal way, at the conclusion
of these simple words of Ours
which seem to Us to echo
those of the apostle St. Paul
addressed to the Roman Ch
urch: "Your faith is proclaimed
all over the world." (Romans
1,8).
People everywhere are wat
ching Catholic Rome, the Ro
man Pontificate, The Roman
Curia. The duty of being auth
entically Christian is especia
lly binding here. We would not
remind you of this duty if We
did not remind Ourself of it
every day. Everything in Rome
teaches The letter and the
spirit—The way we think, study,
speak, feel, act, suffer, pray,
serve, love. Every moment,
every aspect of our life finds
us surrounded by a glow that
can be beneficial if we are
faithful to what Christ wants
from us; that can be harmful
if we are unfaithful.
THAT IS why We desire that
beyond your specific contribut
ion of qualified service, our
Roman Curia~all of you, Bro
thers and Sons— give to Us,
or rather to the Church, to
Christ our Lord, the precious
offering of your example: of
rigorous unselfishness and ab
negation, of religious and sin
cere piety, of loving welcome
to as many as have recourse to
it, and of attentive service.
The Roman Curia is not an
anonymous body, insensible to
the great spiritual problems,
which dictates laws automa
tically. It is instead a living
organ, faithful and docile, of
the head of the Church—an or
gan engrossed in the serious
responsibilities of its functions
and full of reverence and sol
icitude towerd those prelates
whom "the Holy S;irit has plac
ed as bishops to rule the Ch
urch of God.*’ (Acts, 20,28).
THEREFORE LET the Roman
Curia not be a bureaucracy, as
some wrongly judge it, prete
ntious and apathetic, merely
legalistic and ritualistic, a jou
sting field of hidden ambitions
and of intractable antagonisms,
as others accuse it of being.
But let it be a «true commun
ity of faith and charity, of pra
yer and action, of the Pope’s
brothers and sons who do ev
erything, each with respect for
the competence of the other and
with a sense of collaboration
In serving him in his work
for the brothers and sons of the
Universal Church and of the
entire world. We know that this
desire of Ours expresses yours,
sincere and profound. It is this
desire that in Us and in you
becomes prayer, in order that
Christ the Lord, through the in
tercession of Mary Most Holy
and of the holy Apostles Peter
and Paul, may make shine like
the light on the candelabrum this
old and ever new Roman Curia,
"so as to give light to all in
the house” (Matt. 5,15)— in the
house, that is in the Church
of GodI
Finally, do not be displeased
If We ask you all, ecclesias
tics and laymen of the Roman
Curia, to be willing to add to
your labors of office some other
spontaneous labors of the min
istry and the personal aposto-
late. Help the Pope to evange-|
lize not only the world, but the
City as well, of which you are
the foremost faithful and he the
BishopI
Confident in your goodness,
and assuring you that all of you
are present in Our prayers,
with all Our heart We give you
Our apostolic blessing.
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