Roman Curia appointments for new Pacific cardinals

Friday, April 17th, 2015

The two recently appointed Pacific cardinals have been assigned to Roman Curia offices.

Pope Francis named Cardinal John Dew of Wellington, New Zealand, to be a member of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples and of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Cardinal Soane Mafi of Tonga was named a member of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples and the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which promotes and coordinates Catholic charitable giving.

The Vatican published a list of assignments for the cardinals created in February on Monday.

All Cardinals who are under the age of 80 are named members of various Vatican congregations and councils.

While the day-to-day work of Vatican offices is carried out by the staff, the direction and major decisions of the offices are determined by the full membership.

Several of the newly appointed cardinals were assigned to the pontifical councils for justice and peace, Cor Unum, migrants and travellers, and the healthcare ministry — all offices that had been expected to merge into a new Congregation for Charity, Justice and Peace.

In February, the entire College of Cardinals was briefed about a proposal to create a new charity, justice and peace congregation.

They also heard of plans to establish a Congregation for Laity, Family and Life, merging the current pontifical councils for laity and for the family, along with the Pontifical Academy for Life.

No new members of the councils for laity or for the family were announced in the list of appointments.

Source