Pope Francis has approved a new three-year reform process for the Catholic Church, sending a strong signal he plans to continue in the post despite spending more than a month in hospital battling pneumonia. <\/p>\n
The Vatican announced on Saturday that the 88-year-old pope had signed off on the reform plans from Rome\u2019s Gemelli hospital on earlier in the wee. Francis has been hospitalized since 14 February, his longest since his election as pope. <\/p>\n
Reforms on the table include how to give greater roles to women in the Catholic Church, including ordaining them as deacons, and the greater inclusion of laity in governance and decision making. <\/p>\n
The reforms have been examined through a structure called the Synod of Bishops, which has been the primary vehicle through which the pope has implemented his pastoral agenda during his papacy. In recent years he\u2019s sought to involve Catholics from across the globe in the renewal process. <\/p>\n
In October 2023 and 2024 two Vatican assemblies \u2013 which for the first time included female voting members \u2013 each met for almost a month of discussions and deliberation with a final document agreed by the pope. <\/p>\n
That document left open the question of ordaining women deacons, who carry out all the functions of a priest bar celebrating Mass and hearing confessions. It also insisted that women be given all the opportunities that church law provides to act as leaders. <\/p>\n
Francis\u2019 latest decision extends the process by another three years and will culminate in an \u201cecclesial assembly\u201d in the Vatican in October 2028. Unlike a synod of bishops assembly in the Vatican \u2013 which occurred in October 2023 and 2024 \u2013 this will be a unique gathering of bishops, clergy, monks, friars, nuns and lay men and women. <\/p>\n
By that stage Francis would be 91, so his move could mean that a conclave takes place while this reform initiative is ongoing. In that scenario, whoever is chosen as the next pope would be tasked with continuing the reform process Francis has started. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the pope\u2019s decision is also a response to those bishops and other senior leaders who have been quietly resisting the Argentine pontiff\u2019s reform plans. <\/p>\n
Cardinal Mario Grech, who leads the Holy See\u2019s synod office, said the latest plans, which will include churches at the local level, \u201coffer dioceses that have invested less in the synodal path an opportunity to recover the steps not yet taken and to form their own synodal teams.\u201d <\/p>\n
Since his hospitalization, the pope has signalled he\u2019s still governing the Catholic Church, signing documents from the Gemelli hospital, meeting two of his most senior aides and appointing bishops. <\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Francis\u2019 extended period hospital has been a time of high anxiety for the Vatican. At 30 days, it is longest hospitalization, although is still behind John Paul II\u2019s 55 days at the Gemelli. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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