The Pope Reforms Vatican Finances | More control …

From Rome

After the financial scandals that have shocked the Vatican Secretariat of State in recent years, due to the mismanagement of funds and the non-transparent investments that have come to light, andPope Francis on Monday promulgated a series of measures that eliminate the economic and financial functions of the Vatican Secretariat of State.. From this Motu Proprio, a sort of papal decree, the management of these activities passes into the hands of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See and its control to the Secretariat of the Economy.

“A better organization of the administration, controls and supervision of the economic and financial activities of the Holy See to ensure transparent and efficient management and a clear separation of powers and functions, represents a fundamental point of the reform of the Curie ”, wrote Pope Francis in the Motu Proprio. “On the basis of this principle, it is not appropriate for the Secretary of State, who closely and directly supports the actions of the Supreme Pontiff and represents an essential point of reference for the activities of the Roman Curia, to fulfill functions in economic and financial matters already allocated. to other dicasteries ”(Vatican entities). This is why “I deemed it necessary to establish standards to better determine the different functions of the Secretariat of State, of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See and of the Secretariat of the Economy”, added the Pontiff. .

In 2019, an operation was launched on a bank account under the Vatican Secretariat of State where the funds of the Obolo de San Pedro (donations to do charitable works) and the Institute of Works of Religion converged. , in fact the Vatican Bank.. Several years earlier, two hundred million euros from this account had been used to buy a building in a highly desirable area of ​​London, with heavy commissions to intermediaries. For this operation, denounced by Vatican employees, is accused of Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, that at the time of the operation, he was deputy general affairs of the Vatican Secretariat of State, where he had been appointed in 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI and remained until 2018. Becciu is also accused of having donated one hundred thousand euros to a Caritas office, funds that would later have gone to a cooperative run by one of his brothers on the island of Sardinia. In September, and after ordering an investigation into the matter, the Pope removed Becciu from all Vatican functions.. Becciu denies all the allegations and says the purchase of the London building was a very desirable investment for the Holy See.

The Secretariat of the Economy, which will be in charge of economic and financial controls, was created by Pope Francis in 2014 and has been headed by the Jesuit Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves since 2019. Bishop Nunzio Galantino is in charge of the administration of the heritage of the Apostolic See, an entity created in 1967. At the head of the Vatican Secretary of State is Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who notably worked in Mexico and was appointed nuncio (Vatican ambassador) to Venezuela in 2009.

According to a statement from the press office of the Holy See, with this Motu Proprio, Pope Francis made law what he had already declared on August 25 in a letter addressed to Secretary of State Parolin. Among the new regulations, the Pope ordered that from January 1, 2021, funds and bank accounts, as well as movable and real estate investments and participations in companies, so far placed in the name of the Secretary of State , be transferred to the name of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See. Each of these funds will be subject to strict control by the Secretariat for the Economy. The Secretary of State must also immediately transfer to the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, all the money he has in accounts at the Vatican IOR bank or in accounts abroad, as well as transfer all powers over these funds, management of banking and real estate securities.

This Motu Proprio represents one more step in the reform of the Curia that Pope Francis wants to lead, according to the Vatican press release. This new law “reduces the number of financial officials of the Holy See and concentrates the administration, management and economic and financial decisions” in the aforementioned entities. He also decides that there will be greater control and visibility over the so-called Obolo de San Pedro, where donations made by faithful to the Church go, and also establishes that more controls will be carried out on the entities that manage the funds of these donations.