Francis has issued a papal chirograph officially announcing the establishment of his “G8”, the group of eight cardinals who will have the task of advising the Pope on the government of the universal Church and the revision of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus on the Roman Curia.

“The Church will never exceed its task of expressing and spreading its values, at least while I am here,” Francis promised, in answer to a question about the efforts of Catholics. “Political institutions are secular by definition and work independently. All of my predecessors have said this, for many years now at least, even though the emphasis may have been on different aspects. Politics is the first among all civil actions and its field of action is different to that of religion,” Francis stressed.