One of the suggestions made during the meetings of cardinals before the start of the last conclave was the possibility of the new pope having a cabinet of cardinals who could serve as his advisors. So, shortly after Pope Francis was elected, he established the Council of Cardinals, popularly called the C9 because it consisted of nine cardinals from throughout the world. The Holy Father asked me to be part of it, and I have had the great privilege to work with him and the other cardinals in the preparation of the various reforms of the Roman Curia -- the changes to the different dicasteries and other innovations that have been promulgated by Pope Francis and institutionalized in the document "Praedicate Evangelium."

However, since that time, a number of the cardinals have retired. So, the Holy Father told us that he was going to renew the Council of Cardinals, and his idea was to add new members but maintain some of the previous members for continuity.

As I'm sure many of you are aware, this week, the Holy Father announced the new makeup of the council. Cardinal Gracias of India, Cardinal Ambongo of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cardinal Parolin, and myself were asked to continue on, and the Holy Father named a series of cardinals from different parts of the world to complete the membership.

For the first time, we will have a cardinal from Canada with Cardinal Lacroix and from Brazil with Cardinal da Rocha. From Europe, he has named Cardinal Hollerich from Luxembourg and Cardinal Omella from Spain. And, because the president of the Vatican City State, Cardinal Bertello, was one of those who resigned, the Holy Father has named his successor, Cardinal Vergez of Spain, to the council.

I'm very honored to have been invited to continue to be part of the Council of Cardinals and to work with my brother cardinals as we try to support the ministry of Pope Francis in any way we can.



Boston College

On Thursday, I went to Boston College to participate in a conference organized by Boston College, Fordham, and Loyola entitled "The Way Forward: Pope Francis, Vatican II, and Synodality." The conference brought together cardinals, bishops, and theologians to discuss the state of the Church and the Holy Father's call for synodality.

The Holy Father is presenting to the Church this very important theme of synodality as a way of bringing people together in a process of prayer and listening to discern God's will and to energize the evangelizing mission of the Church. There is a lot of interest in this topic right now as we prepare for the Synod beginning in the fall. So, bringing these bishops and theologians together was an important opportunity to have a dialogue on synodality and how the reforms of the Second Vatican Council are being implemented in today's Church.



Trip to Florida

Following the summit, I made a quick trip to Florida to join the Catholic Leadership Institute's annual gathering.

Since I was only there for a short time, I only had an opportunity to celebrate Mass for them and deliver an address before returning to Boston.

We are very grateful for the work of CLI and for all the training that they have conducted for the priests of the archdiocese and throughout the country. They help our priests be good shepherds and good pastors possessing the leadership qualities that are sorely needed to be a servant-leader in our parishes. So, I'm always happy to be supportive of this institution that has made such a positive contribution to the Church in the United States and throughout the world.