Eight cardinals, seven laymen named to Vatican Council for the Economy

Today the Vatican released the names of the 15 members of the Council for the Economy, which was established by Pope Francis late last month with the promulgation of his motu proprio Fidelis et dispensator Prudens. According to the motu proprio, the council will “[offer] guidance on economic management and [supervise] the structures and the administrative and financial activities of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, of the Institutions connected to the Holy See, and of Vatican City State.” The implementation of policies established by the council will be overseen by the new Secretariat for the Economy, which is headed by Australian Cardinal George Pell.

The members of the Council for the Economy are:

–          Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, who will serve as the council’s coordinator;

–          Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, archbishop of Lima;

–          Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston;

–          Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, archbishop of Durban;

–          Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, archbishop of Bordeaux;

–          Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, archbishop of Mexico City;

–          Cardinal John Tong Hon, bishop of Hong Kong;

–          Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general for the Diocese of Rome

–          Joseph F.X. Zahra, former director of the Central Bank of Malta, and the Council for the Economy’s vice-coordinator;

–          Jean-Baptiste de Franssu of France, former CEO of Invesco and a member of the Invesco Worldwide Management Committee;

–          John Kyle of Canada, former vice president of treasure of Imperial Oil Limited;

–          Enrique Llano Cueto, an economist at the University of Madrid;

–          Jochen Messemer of Germany, an international auditor of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Vatican and the Holy See and member of the Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Organization of the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See;

–          Francesco Vermiglio of Italy, professor at the University of Messina and a member of the board of the central Bank of Malta;

–          George Yeo, former finance minister for Singapore.

Vatican Radio has more biographical information about each of the members of the Council for the Economy.