Cardinal Kasper: Rethink the task of the College of Cardinals

Emeritus German Curia Cardinal Walter Kasper has spoken out in favour of reforming the tasks of the College of Cardinals. In the course of the synodal change of the church and decentralisation, the cardinals must find their place anew, said Kasper during a lecture (Wednesday evening) in Salzburg. It would be possible, for example, to revitalise the early church tradition of provincial and plenary councils in order to better do justice to the diversity of cultures and cultural areas.

According to Kasper, the cardinals could be given a new function here, as presidents of the plenary councils in their area and representatives of the churches from this area. This would establish a kind of bicameral system consisting of the Synod of Bishops and the Council of Cardinals. Kasper was speaking as part of the symposium "Benedictines as Cardinals", which is taking place at St Peter's Archabbey in Salzburg until Friday. Kasper's opening lecture was entitled "Cardinals in the service of the Church and the papacy".

Changeable history of the cardinalate

In his lecture, Kasper traced the chequered history of the cardinalate. The responsibilities of the cardinals have always been subject to major changes. Rooted in the liturgy with the Pope as a sign of the unity of the Church, their function had become increasingly politicised and a pawn in the hands of powerful Roman families, the 91-year-old explained. Finally, in the late Middle Ages, the cardinals were "increasingly drawn into the decline and decadence of Rome".

Finally, in modern times, cardinals increasingly became curia officials - in parallel to the prince-bishops who continued to exist. The ecclesiastical leadership function was pushed back and only rediscovered under Pope John XXIII and through the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), explained Kasper. With cardinals such as Augustin Bea, Julius Döpfner, Giovanni Battista Montini and also Cardinal Franz König, a new era of church history had begun in this respect, as it were.

Today, according to Kasper, it is therefore necessary to return to the origins of the College of Cardinals: Evangelisation and the celebration of the Eucharist in communion with the Bishop of Rome. "Both, communion in the Word and communion in the sacrament, were given as a guiding principle by the Second Vatican Council in its communion ecclesiology." (KNA)