The Council of Cardinals (called C9 due to the fact it contained 9 cardinal members for some time), also known as the Council of Cardinal Advisers, is a group of
cardinals
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
appointed by
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
to serve as his advisers. Announced on 13 April 2013, one month after his election, the council was formally established on 28 September of the same year.
The council currently has seven members, following the decision by Pope Francis to remove three of its members in late 2018 and the appointment of another in 2020.
Abbreviations
The Council of Cardinals was named under abbreviations referring to the number of cardinals which, over time, it contained: C9 (9 cardinals), C6 (6 cardinals), C7 (7 cardinals).
Purpose
The Council of Cardinals was created primarily to assist
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
in the reform of the
Roman Curia. Said reform was promulgated in 2022 through the
apostolic constitution ''Praedicate evangelium''.
The Council continues to exist and to perform verious activities, despite having achieved its main goal.
Leadership and membership
The council currently comprises seven cardinals, assisted by Bishop
Marco Mellino
Marco Mellino (born 3 August 1966) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who serves as Secretary of the Council of Cardinals. He has been a bishop since 2018 and worked as Adjunct Secretary to that Council from 2018 to 2020.
Biography
M ...
as its secretary.
*
Óscar Andrés RodrÃguez Maradiaga Oscar or Oskar is a masculine given name of Irish origin.
Etymology
The name is derived from two elements in Irish: the first, ''os'', means "deer"; the second element, ''car'', means "loving" or "friend", thus "deer-loving one" or "friend of deer" ...
,
Archbishop of Tegucigalpa (coordinator)
*
Giuseppe Bertello
Giuseppe Bertello (born 1 October 1942) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal since 2012, who was President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governorate of Vatican City State from Octo ...
, President Emeritus of the
Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State
The Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State ( la, Pontificia Commissio pro Civitate Vaticana, it, Pontificia Commissione per lo Stato della Città del Vaticano;) is the legislative body of Vatican City. It consists of a president, who also ...
and Governorate of Vatican City State
*
Oswald Gracias
Oswald Gracias (born 24 December 1944) is an Indian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was appointed Latin Church Archbishop of Bombay by Pope Benedict XVI on 14 October 2006 and was raised to the cardinalate in 2007. In 2008, he becam ...
,
Archbishop of Bombay
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay is a particular church celebrating the Latin Rite of worship, centred in the Bombay (Mumbai) city of the northern Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The archdiocese has been a Metropolitan see since i ...
*
Reinhard Marx
Reinhard Marx (born 21 September 1953) is a German cardinal of the Catholic Church. He serves as the Archbishop of Munich and Freising. Pope Benedict XVI elevated Marx to the cardinalate in a consistory in 2010.
Biography
Born in Geseke, Nort ...
,
Archbishop of Munich and Freising
The following people were bishops, prince-bishops or archbishops of Freising or Munich and Freising in Bavaria:
Bishops of Freising
* St. Corbinian (724–730); founded the Benedictine abbey in Freising, although the diocese was not orga ...
*
Seán Patrick O'Malley
Seán Patrick O'Malley (born June 29, 1944) is an American cardinal of the Catholic Church serving as the archbishop of Boston. He is a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 2006.
Since its ...
,
Archbishop of Boston
The Archdiocese of Boston ( la, Archidiœcesis Bostoniensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New England region of the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the whole of ...
and
President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors
*
Pietro Parolin
Pietro Parolin OMRI (, ; born 17 January 1955) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal since February 2014, he has served as the Vatican's Secretary of State since October 2013 and a member of the Council of Cardinal Advisers sinc ...
,
Cardinal Secretary of State
The Secretary of State of His Holiness (Latin: Secretarius Status Sanctitatis Suae,
it, Segretario di Stato di Sua Santità ), commonly known as the Cardinal Secretary of State, presides over the Holy See's Secretariat of State, which is the ...
*
Fridolin Ambongo Besungu
Fridolin Ambongo Besungu OFMCap (born 24 January 1960) is a Congolese prelate of the Catholic Church. He has been the Archbishop of Kinshasa since his appointment on 1 November 2018. He has been a bishop since 2004 and before becoming Archbishop ...
,
Archbishop of Kinshasa
The council is coordinated by Cardinal RodrÃguez Maradiaga.
At the time of its formation, the council had eight members. Cardinal Parolin was not among the council's original membership, but attended the meetings regularly and, in July 2014, was confirmed by the
Holy See Press Office
The Holy See Press Office ( la, Sala Stampa Sanctae Sedis; it, Sala Stampa della Santa Sede, links=http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/) publishes the official news of the activities of the Pope and of the various departments of the ...
as a ninth member of the council.
Former members
* 2013-2018:
Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa
Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa (; born 5 September 1933) is a Chilean prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Santiago from 1998 to 2010. He has been a cardinal since 2001 and was a member of Pope Francis' Council of Cardin ...
, Archbishop Emeritus of Santigo de Chile
* 2013-2018:
Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya
Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya (7 October 1939 – 11 July 2021) was a Congolese prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the Archbishop of Kinshasa from 2007 to 2018. He became a cardinal in 2010. He was widely recognized as a champion of peace, dialogu ...
, Archbishop Emeritus of Kinshasa
* 2013-2018:
George Pell
George Pell (born 8 June 1941) is an Australian cardinal of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . I ...
, Prefect Emeritus of the Secretariat for the Economy
References
{{Catholic Church
Christian organizations established in 2013
2013 establishments in Vatican City
*
Reforms of the Roman Curia
Pope Francis