INDIA-VATICAN Card. Gracias to lead study group on nunciatures

The Archbishop of Bombay, Asia’s representative on the Council of Cardinals, has been called to lead the commission requested by Pope Francis to address the question of relations between papal representatives and local Churches, one of the issues arising from the synodal consultation. The group will present its conclusions in June 2025.

Mumbai () – Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai and representative of Asia on the Council of Cardinals (C9) established by Pope Francis, has been appointed coordinator of a study group that will evaluate the functioning and role of papal representatives in the world Church. The Study Group will offer suggestions for improving the functioning of the nunciatures and other bodies of the Holy See in different parts of the world, in order to make their ministry more missionary and synodal. Officials from the Secretariat of State, the Dicastery for Bishops and the Dicastery for Evangelization will take part in the study.

The theme of the relationship between the papal representations and the local Churches is one of the ten specific points that Pope Francis, following the first session of the Synodal Assembly held in the Vatican in October 2023, had identified as needing further study with a specific study. These topics will not be addressed at the next session of the Synod, scheduled for 2 to 27 October. Only a brief report on the work plans of each group will be offered to the Assembly, which must present its conclusions to the Pope before June 2025.

Along with Card. Gracias, the study group also includes Card. Mario Grech, who coordinates the Secretariat of the Synod, Mgr. Luciano Russo, Secretary of the Papal Representatives, and Mgr. Salvatore Pennacchio, President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, which is responsible for the training of the diplomatic staff of the Holy See. The study group has already begun its work with several meetings in Rome with officials of the Secretariat of State and presidents of episcopal conferences from various continents.