Vatican defends the hasty rollout of reforms

VATICAN CITY — Vatican officials on Monday defended the last-minute rollout of Pope Francis’ reform of the Holy See bureaucracy while also painting it as one of the most consequential moves of his pontificate since it recognizes that any believer, male or female, can head a Vatican office.

The new apostolic constitution “Praedicate Evanglium,” or “Proclaiming the Gospel,” was released Saturday after nine years of work with no advance warning and only in Italian. It replaces the previous 1988 founding blueprint of the Holy See which, among other things, made clear that only ordained priests, bishops and cardinals can head Vatican offices because they alone enjoyed the “power of governance” in the Catholic Church.

While the change potentially impacts just a few Vatican offices, the rationale behind it — as explained by officials at a Vatican press conference Monday — is significant and in keeping with Francis’ efforts to make the church less about priests and their clerical power and more about the rank-and-file people of God.

“It’s an important affirmation because it makes clear that the person who heads a dicastery doesn’t have authority based on the hierarchical level achieved, but by the power received by the Roman Pontiff to act in his name,” said the Rev. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a top canon lawyer.

“This confirms that the power of governance in the church doesn’t come from the sacrament of Holy Orders, but from the canonical mission” of every baptized Catholic, Ghirlanda told reporters.

As it is, Francis has promoted a handful of women — lay and religious sisters — to high-ranking positions in the Vatican hierarchy. But to date, no woman has been named to head any of the major Vatican offices, now all known as “dicasteries.”