Understanding the Vatican’s new leadership structure with a pro-prefect and a nun

In a decision that surprised those who closely follow Vatican activity, Pope Francis on Monday created an unprecedented leadership structure in the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life by appointing a nun as prefect a cardinal as pro-prefect, a solution that requires clarity in law and theology.

The unusual decision to appoint Sister Simona Brambilla as prefect and Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime as pro-prefect has sparked debate about the intersection of the Church’s traditional hierarchy and Pope Francis’ vision for reform.

Understanding the role of the pro-prefect

The office of pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life is not provided for in the constitution Preach the Gospelwhich regulates the functions of the Roman Curia.

However, Pope Francis instituted the ad hoc position when he appointed the cardinal as pro-prefect and the nun—until now secretary—as prefect of the dicastery.

It has not been explained how the balance of power will occur between the new prefect and the pro-prefect. However, talking about a relationship of subordination with a cardinal who would be the prefect’s “second in rank” does not seem like a correct reading. What is the logic that has pushed Pope Francis to make this decision?

Power and authority in the Church

Throughout history there has been extensive, complex and sometimes controversial reflection on the relationship between the power of order, which is received with ordination and which enables one to administer certain sacraments – such as presiding over the Eucharist – and the power of government, which gives authority over a part of God’s people, such as a diocese, a religious order or even a parish.

For a long time it was believed that both powers were different and that it was possible to exercise them separately. Saint Thomas Aquinas shared this position.

As for the Roman Curia, it was believed that all those who served in it received their power directly from the Pope, who conferred authority on them regardless of whether they were ordained or not. This also applied to cardinals, whose authority came from the papal creation—which is not a sacrament. The Pope chooses the cardinals as collaborators and advisors in the government of the Church.

This approach has long characterized the history of the Church, to the point that there have been cardinals who were not priests: for example, Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli, Vatican Secretary of State from 1848 to 1876, was ordained a deacon but not a priest. . Further back in time, there were cardinals appointed at a young age who received orders after a long time, and even Popes who were only deacons at the time of their election to the papal throne.

In the past, there were abbots who had not even been ordained priests and governed an ecclesiastical district, or there were figures that seem strange to us but who responded to this logic, such as the so-called elected bishops, who governed dioceses without receiving episcopal consecration, but did so. they did because of their choice. Other examples are the so-called mitered abbesses, “women with a pastoral staff”, who exercised their authority over a territory and over the faithful.

The impact of Vatican II on the government of the Church

However, over time another approach has emerged that dates back to the Church of the first millennium: the power of government is closely linked to the sacrament of holy orders, so it is not possible to exercise one without the other, except within certain limits. , which are rather narrow.

For this reason, Pope John XXIII in 1962 decided that all cardinals should be ordained archbishops with the with the most serious motion.

This is the approach of the Second Vatican Council, which is found, for example, in Light of the Gentilesno. 21, in the Explanatory Note at no. 2, and in the two Codes of Canon Law, the Latin and the Eastern.

Vatican II reiterated with authority that the episcopate is a sacrament and that through episcopal consecration one becomes part of the College of Bishops, which, together with the Pope and under his authority, is the subject of supreme power over the entire Church.

This approach was followed in the two reforms of the Curia that followed the Second Vatican Council: the constitution Government of the Universal Church of Pope Paul VI (1967) and the Pastor Bonus of Pope John Paul II (1988). John Paul II delimited the Curia into congregations and pontifical councils, which in lay terms could be defined as “ministries with portfolio” and “ministries without portfolio.”

The congregations had to be governed by cardinals because they participated in the decisions of the universal Church together with the Pope and, therefore, their leaders had to have the rank of first advisors to the Pope. The pontifical councils, on the other hand, could also be directed by archbishops, but in any case by ordained ministers because they had to continue to be in collegiality with the Bishop of Rome, that is, the Pope.

The reform of Francis’ curia: Breaking new ground

The apostolic constitution Preach the Gospelwith which Pope Francis reformed the Curia in 2022, departed from this approach. There was no longer a distinction between congregations and pontifical councils, which were all defined as dicasteries. Therefore, there was no longer a difference as to who could be the head of the dicastery, a position that could also fall to a layman.

However, when presenting the reform of the Curia on March 21, 2022, the then Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda – created cardinal by Pope Francis in the consistory of August 27, 2022 – explained that there were still some dicasteries in which it was appropriate for a cardinal to lead and noted that the “constitution does not repeal the Code of Canon Law, which establishes that in matters concerning the clerics, it is the clerics who must judge.”

In practice, the canonical mission was no longer given by order, but by decision of the Pope. That is why a layman like Paolo Ruffini could be in charge of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication.

This is the core of the debate: are there offices that can only be held by papal appointment, or are there offices that, despite papal appointment, can only be held if one is ordained?

The question arises when a pro-prefect supports Sister Brambilla. The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life has various powers, but all of them are generic acts of government that can be exercised without priestly ordination. However, there are situations in which the clergy have to decide and it is likely that it has been thought that these decisions cannot be managed without ordination.

In this way the figure of the pro-prefect was created, whose definition seems, however, to be used incorrectly. The document Preach the Gospel describes two pro-prefects who are the heads of the two sections of the Dicastery for Evangelization. This is because these two pro-prefects lead the sections of the dicastery “in place” of the (i.e. pro-) Pope, who is considered the prefect of the dicastery.

In other cases, a prelate who did not yet have the necessary rank to formally exercise the position was appointed pro-prefect. For example, when Angelo Sodano was appointed Vatican Secretary of State on December 1, 1990, he was still archbishop. Therefore, he was appointed pro-secretary of State because the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus It provided that the Secretary of State should always be a cardinal. Sodano retained the title of pro-secretary of State until the consistory of June 28, 1991, when he was created a cardinal and formally assumed the title of secretary of State as of July 1, 1991.

However, Pro-Prefect Artime is already a cardinal and does not exercise jurisdiction in place of the Pope. In any case, she works alongside the prefect, Sister Brambilla. His role is more of a co-prefect and it remains to be seen if the Pope will appoint a secretary for the dicastery to understand the organizational chart.

A Jesuit model to govern the Church?

The choice to place an ecclesiastic next to the prefect reflects some religious orders, which have “brothers” (consecrated lay people) at the head, but are appointed next to figures with sacramental authority.

Therefore, Pope Francis would have chosen to follow a path already followed by religious congregations for the government of the Church. This is not new. Pope Francis, for example, also intervened in the government crisis of the Order of Malta precisely by operating over the order as if it were only a religious and monastic entity, authoritatively imposing the new constitutions in September 2022 and establishing that the Holy Father needs to confirm the election of the grand master of the order.

Even the Council of Cardinals, established by Pope Francis at the beginning of his pontificate in 2013, resembles the general council that supports the government of the Jesuit Superior General.

Many of these approaches are given by Pope Francis’ main legal advisor, Cardinal Ghirlanda, also a Jesuit, who personally followed the reform of the Order of Malta and the reform of the Curiaas well as several other reforms, such as that of the statutes of the Legionaries of Christ.

Looking to the future: Implications and questions

Pope Francis has introduced an innovation in the Roman Curia without outlining it with a precise law, leaving the management of powers to subsequent decisions, not using the criteria of the Curia government but those of the religious congregations. It seems like an “internal” issue.

However, this speaks to a small revolution or, potentially, a misuse of terms that could cause some confusion in the future.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.