At 13.00 today, the interim director of the Holy See Press Office, Alessandro Gisotti, gave a briefing on the 29th meeting of the Council of Cardinals with the Holy Father Francis.

The Council of Cardinals met for three days: Monday 8, Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 April. The following were present: Their Eminences Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, O.F.M. Cap., Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, and Cardinal Oswald Gracias. The meeting was also attended by the secretary of the Council, H.E. Msgr. Marcello Semerari, and the adjujnct secretary, H.E. Msgr. Marco Mellino.

The Holy Father, as usual, participated in the sessions, although he was absent this morning due to the General Audience.

The working sessions took place in the morning 9.00 to 12.30 and in the afternoon from 16.30 to 19.00. During the meeting the procedure for consultation on the new Apostolic Constitution, provisionally entitled, as is known, Praedicate Evangelium, was finalized. The draft, approved by the Council of Cardinals, will now be sent to the presidents of the national Episcopal Conferences, the Synods of the Oriental Churches, the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the Conferences of Superiors and Major Superiors, and some of the Pontifical universities, who will be asked to send observations and suggestions.

Other themes considered during the working sessions were: the missionary orientation that the Curia must increasingly take in the light of the new Apostolic Constitution, the commitment to strengthening the process of synodality in the Church at all levels, and the need for a greater presence of women in leadership roles in the organs of the Holy See. It was also reiterated that the Council of Cardinals is a body with the task of helping the Holy Father in the governance of the universal Church, and therefore its function does not come to an end with the publication of the Apostolic Constitution.

On Tuesday 9 April, Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley presented to the Pope and to the Council the work of the Plenary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which took place last week. Cardinal O’Malley thanked the Pope for the meeting in the Vatican on “The protection of minors in the Church” last February, and the recent publication of the provisions for Vatican City State, which strengthen the Church’s commitment against any form of abuse of minors and vulnerable adults.

The next meeting of the Council of Cardinals will take place on the days 25, 26 and 27 June 2019.