Faithfulness in Matters of Little Account
ShareOn transparency in management of public finances
With a Motu Proprio published on Thursday, 29 April [2021], Pope Francis added new articles to the General Regulations of the Roan Curia introducing measures to ensure transparency in the management of public finances, eliminate conflicts of interest, patronage and corruption among those holding positions of authority in curial offices, institutions associated with the Holy See or responsible to it, and the administrative offices of the Governorate of Vatican City State. The following is a translation of the Holy Father’s document.
Faithfulness in matters of little account is related, according to Scripture, to faithfulness in those of greater account. Likewise, dishonesty in matters of little account is related to dishonesty in those of greater (cf. Lk 16:10).
The Holy See, in adhering to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (Merida Convention), has decided to follow best practices for preventing and combating corruption in its various forms. With the Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio of 19 May 2020, containing “Norms on Transparency, Control and Competition in Public Contracts of the Holy See and Vatican City State”, fundamental safeguards were set in place to combat corruption in the area of public contracts. However, since corruption can also occur in various ways and forms in sectors other than the latter, international regulations and best practices provide for specific requirements of transparency on the part of those holding key positions in the public sector, so as to prevent and combat, in every sector, conflicts of interest, patronage and corruption in general.
Considering that all those who serve in the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the institutions associated with the Holy See or responsible to it, and the administrative offices of the Governorate of Vatican City State have a particular responsibility to demonstrate the fidelity spoken of in the Gospel by acting in accordance with the principle of transparency and in the absence of any conflict of interest, I establish the following:
§1 In the General Regulation of the Roman Curia, at the end of Article 13, the following article is to be inserted: “Article 13b.
§1 Persons employed or to be employed at functional levels C, C1, C2 and C3, including Cardinal Heads of Dicasteries or Heads of Institutions, and those having functions of active jurisdictional administration or of control and supervision as indicated in §2, including the persons referred to in articles 10, 11 and 13§1 of the present Regulation and article 20 of the Regulation for the lay managerial staff of the Holy See and Vatican City State, must sign a declaration upon taking up their office or appointment, and every two years thereafter, in which they certify:
a) that they have not been convicted in final instance of any crimes of fraud in Vatican City State or abroad and, in relation to the same, have not benefited from any pardon, amnesty, clemency or other similar measures, or been acquitted by prescription;
b) that they are not subject to pending criminal proceedings or, to the best of the declarant’s knowledge, to investigations for offences of participation in a criminal organization; corruption; fraud; terrorism or connections to terrorist activities; laundering of profits of criminal activities; exploitation of minors, forms of trafficking in or exploitation of human beings, tax evasion or avoidance;
c) that they do not hold, even through a third party, cash or investments, including shareholdings or interests of any kind in companies and businesses, in countries included in the list of jurisdictions with a high risk of money laundering or the financing of terrorism, as identified by provision of the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority, unless the declarant or his or her blood relatives up to the third degree are resident in said countries or have established domicile therein for proven reasons of family, work or study;
d) that all movable and immovable properties owned or held by the declarant, or payments of any kind received by the declarant originate, to the best of the declarant’s knowledge, from lawful activities and do not constitute proceeds or profits of crime;
e) that to the best of their knowledge, they do not hold shareholdings or interests of any kind in companies or businesses that operate for purposes and in sectors contrary to the Social Doctrine of the Church;
f) that they do not hold, even through a third party, cash or investments, including shareholdings or interests of any kind in companies or businesses in countries included in the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes identified by provision of the Secretariat for the Economy, unless the declarant or his or her blood relatives up to the third degree are resident in said countries or have established domicile therein for reasons of family, work or study, and such assets have been declared to the competent tax authorities.
§2 By functions of active administration are meant those involving participation in proceedings that entail the assumption of financial commitments of any kind by the Institution. The jurisdictional functions referred to in paragraph 1 are solely judicial. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to the support staff of monitoring and oversight bodies. The offices and positions to which the obligations of declaration under this paragraph apply are identified by provision of the Office of the Auditor General, as the anti-corruption authority.
§3 The declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall be kept by the Secretariat for the Economy in the personnel file of the declarant. A copy of the same is forwarded to the Secretariat of State, for matters of its competence.
§4 Where reasonable grounds are present, the Secretariat for the Economy, making use of the competent bodies of the Holy See or of Vatican City State, may verify the truthfulness of the declarations presented.
§5 Without prejudice to cases of criminal liability, an unfiled declaration or a false or mendacious declaration constitutes a serious disciplinary offence in accordance with Article 76, §1, no. 2) and entitles the Holy See to a claim for any damage incurred.
§2 In Article 40, paragraph 1, of the General Regulation of the Roman Curia, the following letter is inserted after letter m): “n) accepting or soliciting, for themselves or for persons other than the Institution in which they work, by reason or occasion of their office, gifts, presents or other benefits of a value greater than forty Euros”.
§3 The Governorate of Vatican City State, the Tribunals of Vatican City State and the Institutions included in the list referred to in Article 1§1 of the Statutes of the Council for the Economy to which the General Regulation of the Roman Curia is not applicable must amend their personnel regulations in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 above within ninety days of the date this Motu Proprio takes effect.
I decree that what has been established is to have immediate, full and stable effect, also rescinding all incompatible provisions, and that this Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio be published in “L’Osservatore Romano” on 29 April 2021 and subsequently in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.
Given in Rome, at Saint Peter’s, on 26 April 2021, the ninth year of my Pontificate.
L’Osservatore Romano
7 May 2021, page 2
