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213 12 REFORMING THE VATICAN The Tradition of Best Practices Thomas J. Reese Too often, when anyone proposes the reform of church structures, the reformer is attacked for borrowing from the secular political field, as if this were intrinsically a bad thing. Such attacks are theologically unsound and historically ignorant. This chapter makes three arguments: (1) the organization of the Vatican through history is not divinely inspired but is the result of the Vatican’s adoption of practices from the secular political world; (2) the governance of the church is more centralized today than at any time in its history; and (3) to make the church more collegial, the Vatican must once again adopt the “best practices” of the secular political world. This chapter is admittedly sketchy. To deal with the first point, the organizational development of the Vatican through history, would require a series of books, not one chapter. Likewise, describing the role of the pope in the church over almost two thousand years would take volumes. One could also go on and on when proposing reform. As a result, this chapter must be seen as the beginning of a conversation, not a definitive answer. HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CURIA When St. Peter, the first pope, arrived in Rome, he did not immediately appoint cardinals and set up the congregations and the other offices that exist in the Vatican today . He apparently had only a secretary to help him with his correspondence. In early centuries, the bishop of Rome had helpers much like those of any other bishop: priests for house churches, deacons for material assistance and catechumens, and notaries or secretaries for correspondence and record keeping.1 By the fourth century, in imitation of the practice of the imperial court, notaries were a permanent fixture in the papacy . As staff to the pope, these men wrote letters and kept records of correspondence and other official documents. For example, they took minutes at the Lateran Council of 649 and prepared its acts. Because of the notaries’ training and experience, popes sometimes sent them on diplomatic missions or to ecumenical councils in the East. By the thirteenth century the Apostolic Chancellery was an important office, and the chancellor was the pope’s principal adviser and assistant, just as chancellors were the principal advisers of European monarchs. The chancellery handled appointments of bishops and abbots as well as bulls and rescripts. Before becoming pope, John XXII (1316–44) had been chancellor to the French king. He used his expertise in organizing the chancellery to handle papal business. The chancellery was later eclipsed by the Apostolic Datary and then the office of the Privy Seal and ultimately the secretary of state. All of these offices had parallels in secular society. Likewise, the College of Cardinals evolved from being the principal priests and deacons of Rome into a papal court that advised and elected popes. The cardinals often compared themselves to the old Roman Senate.As time went on and as papal business increased, the practice of consulting the College of Cardinals in meetings called consistories became common. At first the cardinals met monthly, but by the beginning of the thirteenth century they were meeting three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.2 In many ways the pope and the cardinals functioned as a papal court similar to the royal courts of Europe during the Middle Ages, but the elective nature of the papacy gave to the College of Cardinals a unique role not enjoyed by the nobility in most nations. In exchange for electoral support, papal candidates made deals and promises that increased the power of the cardinals. Later, the power of the cardinals was severely curtailed by increasingly powerful popes, just as the power of nobles was curtailed by the rise of the absolute monarchs. This brief history of the Roman curia shows, first, that the organization and structure of the Roman curia has changed over time, and second, that popes frequently borrowed or adapted practices from secular government and used them in the Church. One can conclude, therefore, that changing the organization and structure of the Vatican by using best practices from the contemporary political and corporate world would be in keeping with the long tradition of the Church. A CENTRALIZED PAPACY Church governance today is more centralized than it has ever been in the history of the Church. The papacy rules the Church with powers that would be the envy of any absolute monarch. The pope...

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