Married couple to head Pontifical Council

Friday, February 21st, 2014

The chairman of the Council of Cardinals, Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga is suggesting a “Congregation for the Laity” with a “Pontifical Council for the Family” headed by married couple.

According to La Stampa, the Cardinal stressed among other things that the Church definitely needs a Congregation for the Laity.

“We have a Congregation for Bishops, for Religious Life and for the Clergy, but the Laity only gets a Pontifical Council even though they are a majority within the Church.

“We cannot go on like this,” he told French daily La Croix.

“After the Second Vatican Council all the laity had was a Secretariat. A Pontifical Council is limited because it has no legal power. This is why we need a real Congregation.”

According to the cardinal, within this Congregation there should also be a Pontifical Council for the Family, headed by a married couple.

Asking “why not”, the cardinal called the initiative of having a married couple heading a Pontifical Council “a wonderful sign”.

“It would be great to have a Congregation for the Laity within the Church. I can tell you that the Spirit is pushing in this direction. More and more lay men and women are taking the joint responsibility of being leaders in the Church,” he said.

Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga was personally chosen by Pope Francis to advise the him on matters including reform of the curia.

Sources