At 13.00 today, the interim director of the Holy See Press Office, Alessandro Gisotti, with H.E. Msgr. Marcello Semeraro, secretary of the Council of Cardinals, a briefing on the 30th meeting of the Council of Cardinals with the Holy Father Francis.

The Council of Cardinals met for three days: Tuesday 25, Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 June. The following were present: 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 secretary of the Council, H.E. Msgr. Marcello Semeraro, and the adjunct secretary, H.E. Msgr. Marco Mellino, also attended.

The Holy Father participated as usual, although he was absent on Wednesday morning due to the general audience, and this morning for a series of audiences at the Vatican Apostolic Palace.

Working sessions took place in the morning from 9.00 to 12.30 and in the afternoon from 16.30 to 19.00. During the meeting, by express wish of the Holy Father, a part of the observations received by the Council of Cardinals was illustrated. The adjunct secretary, H.E. Msgr. Mellino, presented the proposals to the Pope and the Council in the following order: 1) General comments on the text sent; 2) Fundamental questions to be solved before examining the text; and 3) Illustration of the specific comments received. The consultation, which recorded the response of all the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia and of the Pontifical Universities in Rome, will continues in order to allow a response from the National Episcopal Conferences, which were unable to meet the deadline.

Together with the activity of study and exchange in relation to the answers received during the consultation, on Tuesday 25 June at 11.00, H.E. Msgr. Pio Vito Pinto, dean of the Roman Rota, provided a reflection on the activities of the Dicasteries with jurisdiction in legal matters.

The 30th Meeting of the Council of Cardinals will end this afternoon at 17.30 in order to allow participation in the Holy Mass at 18.00, which will be presided at by the Holy Father at the Altar of the Cathedra in the Vatican Basilica, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the marriage of Guzmán Carriquiry Lecour and Lídice María Gómez Mango.

The next Meeting of the Council of Cardinals is scheduled to take place on 17, 18 and 19 September 2019.