Pastor bonus (Latin: "The Good Shepherd") is anapostolic constitutionpromulgated byPope John Paul II on 28 June 1988. It instituted a number of reforms in the process of running the central government of theCatholic Church.
The document's article 1 defines theRoman Curia asdicasteries and institutes supporting theRoman Pontiff "in the exercise of his supreme pastoral office" on behalf of the whole Church, including both theLatin andEastern Catholic Churches.
It was abrogated and replaced byPraedicate evangelium (released on 19 March 2022 underPope Francis) when itbecame effective on 5 June 2022.
Pastor bonus laid out in considerable detail the organization of the Roman Curia, specifying precisely the names and composition of each dicastery, and enumerating which competencies, or responsibilities, each dicastery was charged with overseeing. It replaced the previous governing document,Regimini Ecclesiae universae, which was released by Paul VI in 1967.[1]
It delineated the roles of theSecretariat of State,Congregations, Tribunals,Pontifical Councils, Administrative Services andPontifical Commissions of the Roman Curia. It also established the norms for thead limina visits of bishops to Rome and the relationship between the Holy See and theparticular Churches andepiscopal conferences.
Among the changes formulated in the constitution was the re-integration of the Council for Public Affairs of the Church into theSecretariat of State as theSection for Relations with States (theSecond Section). The Council for Public Affairs of the Church had previously been a section of the Secretariat of State, but was made an independent dicastery byPope Paul VI in 1967.[2]
The constitution also opened membership in dicasteries topriests,deacons,religious, andlay persons. For centuries, onlycardinals were eligible for membership in the organs of the Holy See, but Pope Paul VI allowed diocesan bishops to be members following calls forcollegiality at theSecond Vatican Council.Pastor bonus continued the opening of the central government of the church by allowing representatives of all the faithful to have a role in the Roman Curia.[3]
As of March 2016[update],[4]Pastor bonus has been amended byQuaerit semper in 2011,[5]Ministrorum institutio andFides per doctrinam in 2013,[6][7] andConfermando una tradizione in 2014.[8]
In the Apostolic LetterMinistrorum institutio of 16 January 2013,Pope Benedict XVI transferred the governance of seminaries from theCongregation for Catholic Education to theCongregation for the Clergy.[6] On the same day the Apostolic LetterFides per doctrinam transferred the competence ofcatechesis from the Congregation for Clergy to thePontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization.[9]
In October 2013,Pope Francis and his Council of Cardinals were reviewingPastor bonus for possible further revisions.[10] On 24 February 2014, Francis issued the Apostolic LetterFidelis dispensator et prudens establishing the Council for the Economy to oversee the administrative and financial structures and activities of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the institutions linked to the Holy See, and the Vatican City State. It also established theSecretariat for the Economy as a dicastery of the Roman Curia.[11]
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