VATICAN, Apr. 30, 01 (CWNews.com) – Reform of the Roman Curia,
the roles of bishops’ synods and of episcopal conferences will all be
on the agenda—and papal primacy will not-- when the College of
Cardinals meets in a special consistory later in May, according to an
Italian newspaper report.
According to the Italian daily Il Messaggero, a list of 21 topics has
been sent to all of the world’s cardinals, to help them prepare for the
consistory, Pope John Paul II called the College of Cardinals together,
to meet May 21-24, for the special session. The general theme for
discussion is "the relationship between universality and particularity
in ecclesial communion."
Early discussion of the consistory had indicated that the role of the
Pope would be one of the chief points of discussion. But Il
Messaggero reports that the issue of papal primacy is not on the
working agenda for the meeting. Nor is ecumenism one of the 21
subjects listed, the newspaper said.
In addition to questions about the bishops and collegial governance
of the Church, Il Messaggero indicated that two other important
topics would be the effort to ease world poverty and the crisis in
sexual morality.