VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis says he doesn’t want a “Vatican-centric” church concerned about itself but rather a missionary church that reaches out to the poor, the young, the elderly and even to nonbelievers. That’s the vision he laid out as he opened a landmark meeting Tuesday on reforming the 2,000-year-old institution.
Francis convened a meeting of his eight cardinal advisers for three days of brainstorming.
There already are signs change is afoot: The secretive Vatican bank, under investigation for alleged money-laundering by Italian prosecutors, released its first-ever annual report Tuesday.
The Rome daily La Repubblica also published an interview with Francis. “We need to give hope to young people, help the aged and open ourselves toward the future and spread love,” he said. He said the Second Vatican Council had promised such an opening to people of other faiths and nonbelievers, but the church hadn’t made progress since then. “I have the humility and ambition to do so,” he said.
