As announced by the Press Office of the Holy See, in the presence of Pope Francis, the April meeting of the Council of Cardinals, the so-called “C9”, began this April 15 in Vatican City.

February’s work

The last work session took place from February 5 to 7 and featured the participation of three women who offered their contribution on the topic of the role of women in the Church. They were Mrs. Linda Pocher, daughter of Mary Help of Christians and professor of Christology and Mariology at the Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences Auxilium in Rome; Giuliva Di Berardino, consecrated woman of the Ordo Virginum of the diocese of Verona, teacher and head of spirituality courses and spiritual exercises and Jo Bailey Wells, bishop of the Church of England and undersecretary general of the Anglican Communion.

The February meetings of the cardinals with the Holy Father and the secretary of the Council also focused on the synodal paths underway in the Church and on the topic of evangelization, with reports from Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle and Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro -prefects of the Dicastery for Evangelization.

The “new” C9

The Council of Cardinals, following the renewal of the body by the Pontiff on March 7 of last year, is composed of Cardinals Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State; Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and the Governorate of Vatican City State; Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, archbishop of Kinshasa; Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay; Seán Patrick O’Malley, archbishop of Boston; Juan José Omella Omella, archbishop of Barcelona; Gérald Lacroix, archbishop of Quebec; Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg and Sérgio da Rocha, archbishop of San Salvador de Bahía.

The secretary is Monsignor Marco Mellino, titular bishop of Cresima. And the first meeting of the new C9 took place on April 24 of last year.

Institution of the Council of Cardinals

The Council was established by Pope Francis with the chirograph of September 28, 2013 with the task of assisting him in the government of the universal Church and studying a draft revision of the Roman Curia, the latter carried out with the new Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium published on March 19, 2022. The first C9 meeting took place on October 1, 2013.