The Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life has issued a new “General Decree” – approved in forma specifica by Pope Francis and thus having the force of law – imposing term limits on the leadership of the lay associations under its control, and ensuring the members of such organizations are adequately represented in governing bodies.
The Decree is aimed at “overcoming ‘temptations and insufficiencies’ encountered in how government is exercised within the associations of the faithful,” according to an Explanatory Note published along simultaneously by the Dicastery. “In the context of its role of supervision,” the Note says, "the Dicastery… has identified several reasonable criteria concerning two necessary aspects of good government: regulating the terms of office in governing bodies at the international level, and the representativeness of these bodies.”
