THE Pope has delegated greater authority to national bishops’ conferences under a reform of canon law, in an effort to boost “a sense of collegiality and pastoral responsibility” in the Roman Catholic Church.

“These changes reflect more clearly the Church’s shared and pluralistic universality, which embraces differences without levelling them, while guaranteeing, with respect to her unity, the ministry of the Bishop of Rome,” Pope Francis explained.

“They will encourage a more rapid and effective pastoral governance on the part of local authority, not least by facilitating its proximity to individuals and situations that demand it.”

The Pope made the pledge last week in an Apostolic Letter (motu proprio), listing amendments to the rules governing the power of bishops and religious superiors. He said that the changes would “safeguard unity of discipline” throughout the Church, while also reflecting “the dynamic of ecclesiastical communion” and “enhancing proximity”.

He continued: “A healthy decentralisation can only foster that dynamic, without prejudice to its hierarchical dimension. These changes are meant, above all, to foster the sense of collegiality and pastoral responsibility of diocesan/eparchial bishops assembled in episcopal conferences, or in accordance with Eastern hierarchical structures, and major superiors — but also to respect the principles of reasonableness, effectiveness, and efficiency.”

Among more than 40 changes, set out in ten articles, RC bishops and bishops’ conferences will no longer require Vatican “approval” to set up interdiocesan seminaries, clerical training programmes, or national catechisms, but will need only Rome’s “confirmation” of their proposed initiatives.

The number of masses to be said in fulfilment of a will or legacy will no longer be decided by the Vatican, but will be left to local prelates, who can now reduce them when there is a “just and necessary cause”, such as a decline in revenues.
Religious superiors will also have power to authorise temporary absences and permanent dismissals or resignations from their communities, a right previously reserved to Rome.

“Each nation is to have a programme of priestly formation established by the conference of bishops, attentive to the norms issued by the supreme authority of the Church and confirmed by the Holy See,” the document says.

“This programme is to be adapted to new circumstances, also with the confirmation of the Holy See, and is to define the main principles of the instruction given in the seminary and general norms adapted to the pastoral needs of each region or province.”

Calls for a greater devolution of authority and decision-making to bishops’ conferences have long been heard in the RC Church, and are expected to feature prominently in the two-year synodal process currently under way in parishes and dioceses worldwide, in preparation for a gathering of bishops in Rome in October 2023.

The secretary of the Council of Cardinals, Bishop Marco Mellino, told Vatican News that the latest canon-law amendments formed part of the “work of reform” initiated by Pope Francis after his March 2013 election, and were a response to the “healthy decentralisation and proximity” envisaged in his first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, on “the proclamation of the gospel in today’s world”.

“The intention that animates it is profoundly pastoral,” Bishop Mellino said. “It is evident that when an authority has a direct and closer knowledge of persons and cases requiring pastoral action, this action, by virtue of its proximity, can be more quickly effective. . . It ultimately responds to what must always be the supreme law in the Church — the salvation of souls. Do good for the faithful, do it well, and do it immediately.”

In a separate motu proprio on 11 February, Fidem Servare, the Pope announced organisational changes to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, setting up a doctrinal office handling the “promotion and protection of faith and morals”, and a disciplinary office dealing with clergy offences and the “correct administration of justice”.