VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis approved a new three-year process to consider reforms for the global Catholic Church, the Vatican said on Saturday, in a sign the 88-year-old pontiff plans to continue on as pope despite his ongoing battle with double pneumonia. Francis has extended the work of the Synod of Bishops which has discussed reforms such as the possibility of women serving as Catholic deacons.
The synod, which held an inconclusive Vatican summit of bishops on the future of the Church last October, will now hold consultations with Catholics across the world for the next three years, before hosting a new summit in 2028.
Francis approved the new process for reforms on Tuesday from Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he is being treated. Vatican officials had said at the time that Francis was still considering future changes, and was waiting to receive a series of ten expected reports about possible reforms this June. The latest medical bulletins from the Vatican on the pope's condition in hospital have said he is improving and is no longer in immediate danger of death. — Reuters
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