ABSTRACT
The Church, like most institutions, is always in need of reformation; in fact, it is a sign of health when it recognises the need and acts to renew itself. Throughout its history, it has frequently undergone massive internal change in order to meet the challenges that new times and ideas have thrown down to it. One need only reflect for a moment on how St Francis introduced a new dimension to the ministry of the Church through his reforming movement in the thirteenth century, to see how this reform within the Church was both possible and desirable. Popes, too, far from always being resistant to change, were frequently responsible for re-ordering, rationalising and reforming the Church in order to minister more effectively in changing times and circumstances. Reform and reformation did not necessarily imply the destruction of the Church, its forms of worship or its structure. It did mean growth, albeit sometimes painful.
