The Vatican has made some “unexpected” demands for changes in the French bishops’ plans to reorganize their episcopal conference.
Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, the president of the bishops’ conference, said that the French bishops had expected the Vatican to approve their plans, but that Rome had called for revisions to strengthen the collegial aspect of the conference.
: “The Holy See insists that a bishops’ conference should include several bodies or forums for joint work and decision-making by the bishops, and that not everything should be concentrated in the hands of the permanent council alone,” the archbishop said. He added that the French bishops agreed to the changes “wholeheartedly.”