Pope Appoints Cardinal To Help Reform Church

Pope Francis has appointed the Cardinal Archbishop of Munich and Freising as an advisor to help him reform the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx was on Saturday selected to join a group of cardinals that have been specially appointed to help Pope Francis to revise the Apostolic Constitution of the Church. The Apostolic Constitution, or "Pastor Bonus," was originally set down by Pope John Paul II. It outlines the power structure and insitutional roles of the Roman Curia, which is the set of bodies and people that administer decisions made by the Pope.

Cardinal Marx, who was born in Nord Rhine-Westphalia, was appointed Archbishop of Munich by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 and became the Cardinal-Priest in 2010. He is the head of the Committee for Social Issues at the German Bishop's Conference, and has written a book in which he critiques capitalism and questions the ability of contemporary economies to "ensure the welfare of the world."

Pope Francis, in the month since his election to his position at the head of the one of the most powerful religious organisations in the world, has already made several indications that his would be a reformative papacy. The world's first Latin American pope has put a strong emphasis on reorientating the Church around the poorest of society. 

He faces a long uphill battle in the struggle to maintain worshippers in an increasingly non-religious world.