Reforming the College of Cardinals: A Proposal for Regional Empowerment

A reform of the College of Cardinals is needed to give more decisive roles to the cardinals from different regional areas: Africa, Asia, Oceania, Latin America, Europe. This is the idea of revision studied by theologian Walter Kasper, a German cardinal who is no longer an elector but is highly listened to by Francis. He is convinced that the tasks of this body need to be reviewed because in these years of huge changes, under the push of Bergoglio, an important path of decentralization has been started through the application of the concept of synodality. This factor, he explained during a conference in Salzburg, would require a further step and a radical reform of the College of Cardinals. Kasper thinks that it would be possible to revitalize the old tradition of the early Church which could count on provincial and plenary councils capable of facing the diversity of cultures and reference areas. "We hope to keep Francis for a few more years, his successors will conclude his reforms," says Cardinal Kasper. Thus, a new function could be attributed to the cardinals, that of presiding over plenary councils of their geographical area, as well as being representatives of the local Churches. In this way, a sort of bicameral system would be created in the curia composed of the Synod of Bishops and the Council of Cardinals. Kasper presented the project at the conference with a speech titled: "The Cardinals at the Service of the Church and the Papacy" according to a reconstruction made by the Catholic agency KNA. Kasper started from afar, tracing the troubled history of the cardinalate and highlighting that its responsibilities have always been subject to great changes. The function of the cardinals is rooted in the liturgy as a sign of the unity of the Church even though during the Middle Ages their function became increasingly politicized, in the hands of the plots of powerful Roman families. In modern times, instead, the cardinals have progressively become more curial officials. According to Kasper, their role as ecclesiastical leaders was rediscovered especially under the pontificate of John XXIII and subsequently with the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). A new era was concretized with figures like Cardinals Augustin Bea, Julius Döpfner, Giovanni Battista Montini, and Franz König. Today, with such a multifaceted Church, according to Kasper, it is therefore necessary to return to the origins of the College of Cardinals.