The Reform of the Roman Curia in the Vota for Vatican II
Damian Wąsek
The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1349-1411
Abstract
This paper addresses the problem of the scope and directions of the reform of the Roman Curia postulated in the vota submitted for the antepreparatory stage of the Second Vatican Council. It has been structured around three thematic areas identified from the source material: procedural and organizational changes, calls for the internationalization of the Curia, and postulates for the decentralization of power in the Church. The study employs a theological-historical and linguistic analysis of the Acta et documenta, complemented by a hermeneutical interpretation of the written submissions and proposals of reforms. The findings reveal a striking unanimity among bishops from the different continents: the reform of the Curia was viewed not as a secondary topic, but as a necessary condition for the renewal of the Church. The analysis concludes by identifying the triple dynamics of anticipated changes: increasing the efficiency of the Curia, expanding its catholicity in the sense of universality, and strengthening collegiality—all while full respecting papal primacy.
Keywords:
Second Vatican Council, Roman Curia, Church reform, decentralization, votaSupporting Agencies:
Publication co-financed from the state budget under the Minister of Science and Higher Education programme called ‘Science for Society II’, project no. NdS-II/SN/0050/2023/01, grant amount 512 600.00 PLN, total project value 512 600.00 PLN (Poland).References
Acta et documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando. 1960. Antepraeparatoria 1. Vol. 2: Consilia et vota Episcoporum ac Praelatorum. Pars I: Europa. Vatican: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis. (= CVE Pars I).
Acta et documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando. 1960. Antepraeparatoria 1. Vol. 2: Consilia et vota Episcoporum ac Praelatorum. Pars II: Europa. Vatican: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis. (= CVE Pars II).
Acta et documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando. 1960. Antepraeparatoria 1. Vol. 2: Consilia et vota Episcoporum ac Praelatorum. Pars III: Italia. Vatican: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis. (= CVE Pars III).
Acta et documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando. 1960. Antepraeparatoria 1. Vol. 2: Consilia et vota Episcoporum ac Praelatorum. Pars IV: Asia. Vatican: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis. (= CVE Pars IV).
Acta et documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando. 1960. Antepraeparatoria 1. Vol. 2: Consilia et vota Episcoporum ac Praelatorum. Pars V: Africa. Vatican: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis. (= CVE Pars V).
Acta et documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando. 1960. Antepraeparatoria 1. Vol. 2: Consilia et vota Episcoporum ac Praelatorum. Pars VI: America Septemtrionalis et Centralis. Vatican: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis. (= CVE Pars VI).
Acta et documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando. 1961. Antepraeparatoria 1. Vol. 2: Consilia et vota Episcoporum ac Praelatorum. Pars VII: America Meridionalis – Oceania. Vatican: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis. (= CVE Pars VII).
Acta et documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando. 1961. Antepraeparatoria 1. Vol. 4: Studia et vota Universitatum et Facultatum ecclesiasticarum et catholicarum. Pars I: Universitates et Facultates in Urbe 1. Vatican: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis. (= SVU Pars I.1).
Acta et documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando. 1961. Antepraeparatoria 1. Vol. 4: Studia et vota Universitatum et Facultatum ecclesiasticarum et catholicarum. Pars I: Universitates et Facultates in Urbe 2. Vatican: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis. (= SVU Pars I.2).
Acta et documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando. 1961. Antepraeparatoria 1. Appendix voluminis II: Analyticus conspectus consiliorum et votorum quae ab episcopis et praelatis data sunt. Pars II: De sacramentis, De locis sacris, De praeceptis ecclesiasticis, De cultu divino, De magisterio ecclesiastico, De beneficiis et de bonis Ecclesiae temporalibus, De processibus, De delictis et poenis, De missionibus, De oecumenismo, De actuositate Ecclesiae. Vatican: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis. (= CVE Ap. II).
Acta et documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando. 1961. Antepraeparatoria 1. Vol. 4: Studia et vota Universitatum et Facultatum ecclesiasticarum et catholicarum. Pars II: Universitates et Facultates extra Urbem. Vatican: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis. (= SVU Pars II).
Catta, Arianna, Roberto Palombi, and Davide Salvatori. 2022. Diritto penale canonico: Dottrina, prassi e giurisprudenza della Curia Romana. Bologna: Edizioni Dehoniane Bologna.
Del Re, Niccolò. 1998. La Curia romana: Lineamenti storico-giuridici. 4th ed. Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Ekpo, Anthony. 2024. The Roman Curia: History, Theology, and Organization. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.
Faggioli, Massimo. 2022. The Apostolic Constitution “Preach the Gospel” (Praedicate Evangelium): With an Appraisal of Francis’s Reform of the Roman Curia by Massimo Faggioli. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.
Francis. 2022. Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_constitutions/documents/20220319-costituzione-ap-praedicate-evangelium.html.
Ghirlanda, Gianfranco. 2022. “La Costituzione apostolica Praedicate Evangelium sulla Curia Romana.” Periodica de re canonica 111:355–420. https://doi.org/10.32060/periodica.3.2022.355-420.
Ghirlanda, Gianfranco. 2024. Chiesa universale e Chiesa particolare (Cann. 330–572). 2nd ed. Diritto canonico nuova serie 3. Roma: Studium.
John Paul II. 1988. Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus. https://www.vatican.va/content/johnpaul-ii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19880628_pastor-bonus.html.
Kućko, Wojciech. 2022. “Moralne aspekty reformy Kurii Rzymskiej w przemówieniach papieża Franciszka do kurialistów w latach 2013–2021.” Teologia i Moralność 17 (2): 169–88. https://doi.org/10.14746/tim.2022.32.2.10.
Paul VI. 1967. Constitutio Apostolica Regimini Ecclesiae universae. https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/la/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-vi_apc_19670815_regimini-ecclesiae-universae.html.
Pius X. 1908. Constitutio Apostolica Sapienti consilio. https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-x/la/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-x_apc_19080629_sapienti-consilio-index.html.
Prudlo, Donald S., ed. 2025. A Companion to the History of the Roman Curia. Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition 107. Leiden: Brill.
Rozkrut, Tomasz. 2022. “Centralne instytucje wymiaru sprawiedliwości Kościoła według konstytucji apostolskiej papieża Franciszka Praedicate Evangelium.” Annales Canonici 18 (2): 57–71. https://doi.org/10.15633/acan.18203.
Szczot, Elżbieta, ed. 2007. Kuria Rzymska i pomniki chrześcijaństwa na szlaku do Wiecznego Miasta. Lublin: Wydawnictwo KUL.
Sztafrowski, Edward. 1981. Kuria Rzymska: Studium historyczno-kanoniczne. Warszawa: Akademia Teologii Katolickiej.
Sztafrowski, Edward. 1990. “Kuria Rzymska Jana Pawła II.” Prawo Kanoniczne 33 (1–2): 21–81. https://doi.org/10.21697/pk.1990.33.1-2.02.
The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1349-1411
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The author(s) grant (s) to the Licensee a non-exclusive and royalty-free license in accordance with the provisions of the Appendix: LICENSE TO USE THE WORK
