Cardinals plan Catholic government overhaul

VATICAN CITY - Cardinals called by Pope Francis to help him reform the Catholic Church are planning a major overhaul of the central administration in the Vatican, a spokesman said on Thursday.

"The cardinals have not come for minor, cosmetic changes," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.

"It will be a new configuration on important points," he said, referring to reform of the Roman Curia that would increase powers of local churches.

The reforms could also change the role of the Secretariat of State, the central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, which has evolved into something of a state within a state.

The role of lay people would also change and there could be "novelties", Lombardi said, without adding any further details.

Francis in an interview published on Tuesday called for a Catholic Church government that would be less "Vatican-centric" and berated "courtiers" in the Vatican as being swayed by earthly values.