All of this gives rise to the thought that the economic crisis was just an excuse, even if supported by real data. And that, in the end, the need for a freeze on hiring is motivated by the upcoming streamlining of the Roman Curia. A step forward in Pope Francis’ path of reform.

Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodriguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa (Honduras) and coordinator of the Council of Cardinals, has spoken several times about a possible new Congregation for the Laity. This Congregation would include as its departments the current Pontifical Councils for Laity, for the Family, for the Migrants and for Justice and Peace. A hint of this “amalgamation” would be that Pope Francis has confirmed the heads of these Pontifical Councils just until the end of their current terms in office. By contrast, the heads of other dicasteries have been so far confirmed for full new terms in office (i.e. their terms have been renewed, resetting the clock to keep them in office for five years from the time of Pope Francis’ election).

The Congregation for the Eastern Churches and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity have been the last dicasteries’ heads that Pope Francis fully confirmed, on Feb. 19.

The general project of Curia reform – according to rumors – would include the creation of a Congregation for Culture and New Evangelization, which would include the Pontifical Councils for Social Communication, for the New Evangelization and for Culture.

These moves would allow Pope Francis to make some further changes without the necessity of amending the Pastor Bonus, the Pastoral Constitution that regulates the functions of the Curia.

One of the changes would have to do with the head of the dicasteries. Until now, Congregations must be chaired by cardinals, while Pontifical Councils can be chaired by a cardinal or an archbishop. According to these rules, layman cannot chair a dicastery.

Changing a pastoral constitution requires time. But if a dicastery is turned into a department, the latter can be chaired by anyone. For instance, a married couple could lead the Department for the Family.

In fact, none of these changes represent a definitive reform. The meetings of the Council of Cardinals are still in the general discussion phase. Also the Commission for the Protection of Minors, announced at the end of the December meeting, is just a proposal still to be realized, as Father Federico Lombardi, Director of the Holy See Press Office, explained during a media briefing.

It is the same for reforms. Cardinals have just put on the table some proposals, gathering opinions from the dicasteries in a somewhat lose manner (just asking employees directly, rather than asking the dicasteries).

Those who were waiting for a quick and drastic reform had to change their mind when Cardinal Maradiaga, in one of his countless interviews to the press (that not every cardinal appreciated), said: «Time is needed for reforms.»

So, Pope Francis’ revolution is increasingly becoming a series of “cosmetic” changes, perhaps useful to clean the Church’s tarnished image, but not deep enough for real change.

Also the reviled Vatican finances may be subjected to this cosmetic treatment. Since the beginning of their meetings, the cardinals of the Council have been talking about the establishment of a sort of Vatican “Ministry of Finances” (to consolidate in one place all the Vatican financial activities). Perhaps the cardinals do not remember that the reform of the regulations of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs issued 22 February 2012 (exactly two years before Pope Francis’ first consistory) already tasks this Vatican dicastery with financial programming similar to that of a Ministry of Finances.

The Institute for Religious Works (IOR), wrongly known as the “Vatican bank”, is always a target. It is thought that the IOR will be absorbed into the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), thus keeping its functions even if it is placed under another dicastery.

The backers of this idea are not taking into account, for instance, that APSA has been structured over the course of the years as a public authority, and that its diminishing banking activities are being phased out to strengthen its public authority profile.

On the other hand, those who had been served by the IOR understand its importance. Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop Emeritus of Chicago and considered one of Pope Francis’ ‘super electors’, noted in a recent press interview: «During my 12 years as General Vicar of my religious congregation, the Oblates of the Immaculate Mary, I found the IOR very useful. We used it to transfer money from the richer provinces to places with an inadequate banking system. As a lay tool of the Pope’s sovereignty, the Vatican should have at its disposal the required means to enjoy financial independence. The characteristics of this independence and its necessary limits to prevent that the bank becomes a commercial bank are still to be analyzed.»

The road ahead is long. At the end of the week, Pope Francis created 19 new cardinals, some of them completely unexpected.  The Pope had two main goals: break careerism, showing that there are no ‘class A’ or ‘class B’ dioceses; and at the same time show that he is paying attention to the world’s peripheries.

The cardinals selected last week took part in the extraordinary consistory on the family. Once again, the cardinals addressed the issue of holy communion for Catholics that remarry after a divorce.  Father Lombardi’s briefing made it clear that it was a very general exchange of views.

In the end, even the awaited reform on communion for divorcees who remarry seems to be less than what was expected, or what the public was made to believe it could be. Pope Francis’ revolution is mostly a reform of the attitudes, of pastoral approach. Now, the challenge is not to reduce every reform to a «change everything in order not to change anything.» This would be just marketing. And the Catholic Church is not a company which needs a new, improved image, despite what the many consulting companies recently hired by the Vatican may think. 

In a quick succession of events, from the second half 2012 until now, a patriarch of an eastern church has been created cardinal and five new patriarchs have been elected. The most recent one is the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans: after four days of voting, Louis Sako, Archbishop of Kirkurk, has been elected successor to Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly. Sako’s patriarchal motto is: «Authenticity, Unity and Renovation.»

In the months prior, Tawadros II was elected patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox; Sidrak was elected patriarch of the Coptic Christians. Even the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch has a new patriarch: John X was elected last December 17, succeeding Patriarch Ignatius IV Hazim, who died at age 92 on December 5; on January, 24, Nourhan Manougian was elected Jerusalem Armenian apostolic Patriarch, and a few days ago he received a visit  by Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and from other Christian Churches representatives.In addition to these new Patriarchs, Bechara Boutros Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Lebanon, was created cardinal in the last concistory.

Three of these patriarchs are part of the Catholic Church, and got the ecclestica communio (ecclesiastic communion) from the Pope. Two of them are not part of the Catholic Church, but are part of that ecumenical movement that seems to advance rapidly with respect to relations between the Catholic Church and Christian Eastern Churches. So quickly that an ecumenical meeting between Benedict XVI and the Russian-Orthodox Patriarch Kirill seems ever more possible –Finland is the country most recently mentioned as a candidate to host an unprecedented meeting between the two leaders.  Meanwhile, the Pope and the heads of eastern churches often exchange fraternal messages. A great harmony has always reigned between the Pope and the Patriarch Bartholomew I in particular.

There are more difficult challenges looking west. Not particularly with the Anglican Church. Yes, Westminster has a new primate, Justin Welby. But his relationships with the Catholic Church will be as good as his predecessor’s. A former manager in oil companies, Welby has often noted that he was educated in the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church. Yes, he is very open to the ordination of women bishop and gay priests. But this is foremost an Anglican internal problem rather as of yet a problem for ecumenical dialogue.

The Catholic Church has more problems with other Protestant Churches It is, again, a matter of steps. In Erfurt –where Martin Luther studied and decided to become an Augustinian monk– only 80 steps divide the Church of Saint Severe from the Cathedral. Benedict XVI walked these 80 steps with care –during his visit to Germany in 2011– as if aiming, symbolically, to fill the gap between the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church. Many expected an ecumenical gift, i.e. the revocation of Martin Luther’s excommunication. The Pope brought the gift of proposing a common path to God, because –he stated– «Christians’ faith is not based upon a consideration of our advantages and disadvantages. Faith is not something we think up of and agree upon. It is the bedrock on which we live.»

There is an idea for a big ecumenical meeting between Catholics and Lutherans in 2017, coinciding with the 500th anniversary of the Reform. But the Protestant world is wary and almost took offence at comments made by Card. Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. Koch recently said that «in the last decades, the goal of the ecumenical movement has lost clarity, and more than a few Churches of the Reform abandoned the original goal of the visible unity of the Common Faith and of Sacraments, and embraced instead the postulate of diverse ecclesial communities as churches that are parts of the only church of Jesus,»  so that «the unity of the Church happens to be a sum of ecclesial realities. To picture it, I am drawn to an image of many one-family dwellings, where families live independently and invite each other for lunch every now and then.»

Will these tensions be overcome? Perhaps the answer is in what Paul VI said when he first met Patriarch Athenagoras: «Let us live a fraternal life and let us pray for the theologians.»  Theologians have in fact done a lot for the ecumenical dialogue, especially with regards to the schism between the Church with the eastern churches. Steps to overcome the schism are ongoing: they began with the reciprocal revocation of excommunication and extend to the outcome declaration of the 2007 Ravenna ecumenical-theological meeting. In that document, the bishop of Rome is defined as protos (the first) among the patriarchs, albeit how to exercise this «primacy»  is yet to agreed on.

Benedict XVI has always underlined the need for «spiritual ecumenism» . Meeting youth of the community of Taizé –everybody can be part of this prophetic community: Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants– the Pope underlined that its path is the right one. «We should listen from within –he said– his ecumenism lived spiritually and be lead by his witness to a really interiorized and spiritualized ecumenism.»

In the meantime, Benedict XVI undertook specific actions. For example, extending more frequently the berretta rossa to the heads of oriental churches in communion with Rome. This tradition was introduced by Pope John XXIII, and followed by Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Some theologians maintained that the cardinal title (i.e. a Roman clergy member, and thus an elector of the Pope, who is the bishop of Rome) cannot be given to a patriarch. Patriarchs –these theologians maintain– have a greater dignity (almost on par with the Pope’s) than cardinals. Furthermore, patriarchs are part of a tradition different from the Latin tradition. Benedict XVI, nevertheless, has chosen to reinforce the Church’s unity over these theological considerations.

The last action of this kind was the creation of cardinal of Bechara Boutros Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Lebanon. Just a few days ago, it was announced that the new cardinal would help two young Lebanese charged with writing the Good Friday Via Crucis meditations. The Pope continuously refer to Lebanon as an example of religions’ cohabitation, and this is even more important considering the difficult situation of Middle-East countries, where the Arab Spring has been a Winter for Christians. That is why having five new patriarchs and a new cardinal-patriarch is an important development. At a difficult time for Christians, ecumenical dialogue and overcoming the scandal of the division among Christians are necessary to preserve Christian communities. The year of the five patriarchs is a chance for unity.