VATICAN CITY (VATICAN CITY)
La Croix International [France]
May 1, 2021
By Loup Besmond de Senneville
Pope Francis has issued a new decree on financial management at the Vatican in what is being touted as a further step in his fight against corruption inside the Church.
The new text, which was issued on April 29 in the form of a motu proprio (meaning “at his own initiative”), imposes measures to ensure financial transparency at all levels of the Holy See.
What exactly does this new motu proprio contain?
First of all, it requires all Roman Curia officials – from the prefects of dicasteries to the vice-directors – to complete, as soon as they take office, a declaration of interests.
They must attest, in particular, to never having been convicted in any country and to not have benefited from any system of amnesty or prescription.
The motu proprio explicitly states that all curia heads, “including cardinals”, will also have to promise not to be the subject of any ongoing criminal proceedings for corruption, fraud, terrorism, money laundering or exploitation of minors.
Financially, they will also be prohibited from holding, “even through a third party”, any interests “in companies and businesses, in countries included in the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes”.
They will also have to ensure that they have no property – movable or immovable – through an illicit activity.
Declaration must be renewed every two years
More broadly, they will also be prohibited from having any “shareholdings or interests” “in companies or firms operating for purposes and in sectors contrary to the Social Doctrine of the Church”.
Officials will be required to update and sign the declaration of interests every two years.
The Secretariat for the Economy has the authority to verify the truthfulness of such declarations and will keep a record of all information. Those who are found to be withholding or providing incorrect information may be removed from office.
So-called “grey corruption”
But this new decree does not only concern the heads of the Roman Curia. The pope wants to go further, fighting against a form of corruption that is sometimes called “grey corruption” — a type of borderline or minor corruption.
“Corruption can also occur in different ways and forms in sectors other than procurement,” Francis said in the introduction to his decree.
To this end, all members of the curia, employees of Vatican City and those of all bodies associated with it will now be prohibited from “accepting or soliciting, for themselves or for persons other than the Institution in which they work, by reason or on the occasion of their office, gifts, presents or other benefits of a value greater than forty euros”.
These rules are similar to those that govern many public administrations around the world.
The maximum value for accepting a gift without declaring it is thus set at €150 for the French National Assembly, €250 for Italian parliamentarians, €50 for European Commission officials and $335 (€276) for the US senior administration officials.
As for the declarations of interests, they are, in many countries, made public.
It is a degree of transparency to which the pope obviously did not wish to go.
“Being honest is hard: the more responsibilities you have, the harder it is”
But in the Vatican, where secrecy taints all exchanges, this is a cultural revolution in many ways
“We are experiencing the last moments of a world closed in on itself,” said a curia official a few weeks ago.
“Reasonable accommodation is no longer the order of the day,” he continued.
“This is the end of an era, which began a few years ago with the end of the distribution of cash envelopes. More broadly, it asks us about our relationship to money,” the same official added.
“What can I do with the dicastery card? What can I accept as a gift? Being honest is hard: the more responsibilities you have, the harder it is. Including, even especially, here in the Roman Curia,” he said.
The pope’s new decree takes effect immediately.
It was published on the exact day that the general assembly of Moneyval, a Council of Europe body, adopted the report that anti-money laundering experts made after conducting an inspection of the Vatican last October.
The timing is not coincidental, as Pope Francis intends to use this international pressure to push forward internal reforms in the Vatican, especially in the financial area.
This is why he personally received the Moneyval inspectors in the fall, encouraging them in their work.
Monyval’s report is expected to be made public in mid-June.