Vatican City - Pope Francis issued a new constitution, nearly a decade in the making, to govern the Vatican bureaucracy, known as the Roman Curia that runs the Roman Catholic Church. The constitution, running 54 pages, newly stipulates that baptized lay Catholics, including women, can lead departments traditionally headed by cardinals.

Reforming the Roman Curia, which governs the church of 1.3 billion faithful, was a central motivation for Pope Francis’ election in 2013.

The document, drafted by top cardinals chosen by the Pope, was released on the ninth anniversary of his installation. It explicitly states in its preamble that “the pope, bishops and other ordained ministers are not the only evangelizers in the church,” creating space for Catholic “laymen and laywomen” to have “roles of government and responsibility.” In another section, called “Principles,” it states that the pope can appoint any Catholic he considers qualified to lead a Vatican office.

Church experts suggested that the departments for bishops, which oversees bishops around the world, and clergy, which deals with the church’s priests, would still require men as leaders because only men could be priests. The constitution, signed by the Pope on Saturday and published immediately, and only in Italian, will go into force June 5, replacing the charter “Pastor bonus,” or “Good Shepherd,” introduced in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.

Pope Francis has made a tradition of hammering the leaders of the Roman Curia — usually in a major Christmastime address — for a host of sins, including being enamored with power and status and being far from the faithful. He has denigrated the Curia hierarchy as a self-important, “ponderous, bureaucratic customs house” plagued by “intrigues of little groups” that placed itself and the priesthood above parishioners, instead of being “shepherds, with the smell of sheep.”

The Vatican offices will continue to be streamlined, but also undergo a new prioritization. After the powerful Secretary of State, top billing will go to the new Dicastery for Evangelization, which combines a previous office for supporting the church in the developing world, and in countries where Catholics are a minority, with another dedicated to rekindling the faith in countries already claiming a major Catholic presence. The new office comes “directly” under the pope, with the assistance of two prefects.

Pope Francis has repeatedly sought to put his pontificate within the continuum of the Second Vatican Council, the landmark meeting of bishops in the 1960s that sought to embrace the modern world. The new constitution tries to codify Pope Francis’ view of the church. It introduces changes to put serving the pope back at the center of the Curia’s mission — “Nothing can be done before the head of the curial institution communicates it to the Roman Pontifex,” it says at one point — as well as serving bishops and supporting the local churches that Pope Francis views as the lifeblood of the faith.