What about the eight cardinals who are to advise him about reforming the curia (Vatican bureaucracy)?
A knowledgeable source comments:
A global group:
The Pope has set up his cabinet of cardinal advisors from all the continents. As my wife said: “they didn’t have this before, it makes so much sense.” Yes, definitely Pope Francis is bringing a lot of sense into the Vatican.
Gutsy:
All of these Cardinals are known for being very independent and outspoken. Cardinal Monswengo Pasinya of Congo has even had death threats against him for his criticism of the Congolese government and fraudulent elections, and the same can be said about Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras, while Cardinal Pell is probably the most outspoken Cardinal of all.
Not in automatic agreement:
What is fascinating is that these Cardinals are not of the same mind on many issues. For example, Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga has been sharply critical of how the Church has overreacted in the case of the sex abuse scandal by punishing priests without due process, while Cardinal O’Malley has been most active in implementing quick punishments against priests accused of abuse.
These are not yes men, in fact they may have to find sound proof rooms for these Cardinals to discuss the issues, because there may be arguments, and that is good for the Church in getting things done because the Pope will be getting the full scope of each situation that will be discussed.
Francis has a plan:
This was in Pope Francis’ mind from day 1. I was curious why in the first week of his Papacy he met with the relatively insignificant Bishop Semerero of Albano, Italy. Well, since Bishop Semerero will be the secretary of this group, Pope Francis had already decided on forming this group in his first week as Holy Father.
Ready to roll.
Blithe Spirit 