The Franciscan reforms of the Roman Curia are, three years on, beginning to break the surface. Already this month we have seen the leadership of the much trumpeted Congregation for the Laity announced, and yesterday saw the publication of a new motu proprio by which the Pope effectively combined the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the Vatican’s charitable arm Cor Unum, the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, and the Pontifical Council for Healthcare Workers.
The new department is referred to in the motu proprio as the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Cardinal Peter Turkson, currently the head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has been announced as its first prefect.
