The Council of Cardinals met, as planned, for three days: Monday 2 December, Tuesday 3 December, and Wednesday 4 December, in the presence of The Eminent Cardinals Pietro Parolin, Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., Reinhard Marx, Seán Patrick O'Malley, O.F.M. Cap., Giuseppe Bertello and Oswald Gracias. The Secretary of the Council, Bishop Marcello Semeraro, was present with them.

The Holy Father participated in the work, with the exception of today, Wednesday 4 December, during the General Audience, and subject to certain commitments.

The last meeting of this session will take place this afternoon.

The activity of the Council was aimed at deepening two aspects on the importance of which the draft of the new Apostolic Constitution focuses: the relations between the Curia and the Episcopal Conferences and the presence of the lay faithful, men and women, in decision-making roles in the offices of the Curia and in other bodies of the Church, and to study the theological-pastoral basis of these aspects.

The Council was also able to receive from His Eminence Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., a report on the work of the Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Pan-Amazon Region and to reflect, also in the light of some considerations offered by Cardinal O’Malley, on the formulation of the post-Synodal document.

Cardinal Marx explained how the next Synodal Way in Germany will take place, and outlined the themes on which the work will focus.

From September until a few days before the beginning of the session, some suggestions continued to arrive regarding the text of the new Apostolic Constitution, the reading and evaluation of which will continue in the next session in February 2020.