On the 6th February 2014, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, confirmed Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko and Mgr. Josef Clemens as President and Secretary respectively of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. He also named several members and consultors of the Council, including Laurent Landete, the Moderator of the Emmanuel Community.
Laurent Landete, a father of six children and a nurse in Bordeaux, has been the Moderator of Emmanuel Community since 2009. In his new role, he will take part in Council meetings or be consulted on specific questions under consideration by the Council. Mgr. Dominique Rey, Bishop of Fréjus Toulon, the previous Head of Emmanuel priests and seminarians, was also named a consultor to the Council.
The Pontifical Council for the Laity, created by Pope Paul VI in 1967, is responsible for ‘promoting and coordinating the apostolate of the laity and, generally, in those matters respecting the Christian life of lay people as such’, ‘The Council is to urge and support laypeople to participate in the life and mission of the Church in their own way, as individuals or in associations, especially so that they may carry out their special responsibility of filling the temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel’ (Pastor Bonus §131 & 133) The members of the Council (Bishops, priests and men and women from the world-wide Church) have a Plenary Assembly once a year. The Council seeks the advice of its consultors in helping it to accomplish its mission and in clarifying particular topics.
Taken from press release at press.vatican.va