Vatican leaders, Pope to huddle on key decisions

Vatican, Apr. 06 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) will hold a second meeting with leaders of the Roman Curia on April 7, amid rumors that major changes may be pending at the Vatican.

The Friday-morning meeting, which will be held in the Bologna room, is the second such meeting of the Pope with his key aides. At the first meeting, on February 13, the topics reportedly included a plan to allow broader use of the Latin Mass. Those closed-door discussions were to be continued at the April 7 meeting.

In the days leading up to the meeting with dicastery heads, Pope Benedict met privately with several leaders of the Roman Curia. On April 6, for instance, he conferred with Cardinal Ignace Moussa Daoud, the prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches; with Cardinal Renato Martino, the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; with Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the Vatican archivist; and with Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, the secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops.

The Holy Father has also conferred recently with Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, the prefect of the Congregation for Clergy. Cardinal Castrillon has been the focal point of talks between the Vatican and the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). At the February meeting of Vatican officials, he reportedly presented a proposal for reconciling the SSPX with the Holy See.