A statement issued by the Communications
Office of the Vicariate of Rome says Pope Francis is taking time to
"make a healthy discernment" before appointing the new Cardinal Vicar.
On Monday 8 April, a meeting of the Holy Father with the Council of Bishops of the diocese of Rome was held in the Apostolic Palace.
Due to the delicacy of the office of Cardinal Vicar, Pope Francis informed the bishops, his close collaborators, that he would take time to make a healthy discernment on the figure of the person whom he will appoint to fill this role.
In this transitional phase, the Holy Father has encouraged the bishops to continue the pastoral ministry and administrative activities they have already begun.
As foreseen by Article 14 § 3 of the Apostolic Constitution In Ecclesiarum Communione concerning the ordering of the Vicariate of Rome, as long as the office of Cardinal Vicar is vacant, all its functions and powers, including those of legal representation, will be exercised by the Vicegerent, Bishop Baldassare Reina.