Catholic News Service ran an interesting piece interviewing Cardinal Levada that provided a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, including a look at the mechanics of how it goes about its work.
It’s well worth reading, so
GET THE STORY.
Author: Jimmy Akin
Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."
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With a permanent staff of only 36 people, the congregation is limited in what it can tackle at any one time. That’s one reason documents and decisions are not churned out quickly, but take years to develop.
An interesting point. I always wonder why the Holy See is so slow, but this puts it into perspective. Also, even if they had more people working there, that doesn’t necessarily make things easier. The documents of the Church will be pored over for millenia, and they are probably very cautious about releasing anything too soon or without sufficient thought. Didn’t the Council of Trent last something like 20 years? The massive size of the Episcopate probably makes things harder, not easier, with collegiality and all.