VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
John L. Allen Jr. | Dec. 19, 2013 NCR Today
Rome
The press for Vatican reform in the Francis era continued to gather force today, as the Vatican announced it has awarded contracts to two major international consulting firms to ponder a reorganization of its communications operations, as well as to bring its accounting procedures in line with international standards.
Among other things, the moves confirm that the Vatican’s traditional reluctance to compromise its independence by allowing outsiders to examine its internal workings has given way under Francis to a new desire to tap secular expertise.
In both cases, the consultants have been selected by a papal commission to study the Vatican’s economic and administrative structures set up by Francis in July. That body is composed of eight members, all but one of whom are laity, and is led by Maltese economist and businessman Joseph F.X. Zahra.
The Vatican said the contracts were awarded after what it described as a “competitive bidding process,” but it did not specify how much is being paid for the firms’ services.
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