Pope Francis Issues a New Motu Proprio to Better Control the Funds of the Vatican and its Foundations
Pope Francis issued a Motu Proprio concerning entities established within curial institutions, which had a certain administrative autonomy, extending the new regulations also to entities based in the Vatican City State. Pope Francis released it as an Apostolic Letter on December 6th, concerning instrumental juridical persons, including funds, foundations and entities that refer to the Holy See, and are registered in the list referred to in Article 1 § 1 of the Statute of the Council for the Economy, and having their headquarters in Vatican City State.
Existing instrumental juridical persons will have to comply with the provisions of the Motu Proprio within three months of its entry into force, which is scheduled to begin on December 8, 2022. The Motu Proprio consists of eight articles. The third deals with supervision and control in economic and financial matters, establishing that the Secretariat for the Economy exercises supervision and control over instrumental juridical persons in accordance with its statutes and, within its competence, adopts or recommends the adoption by instrumental juridical persons of appropriate measures for the prevention and combating of criminal activities.
APOSTOLIC LETTER
IN THE FORM OF "MOTU PROPRIO"
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
FRANCIS
ON THE INSTRUMENTAL LEGAL PERSONS OF THE ROMAN CURIA
"Whoever is faithful in small things is also faithful in important things" (Lk 16:10a). Following the overall reform of the institutional structure of the Roman Curia that I wanted to implement through the recent Apostolic Constitution Preadicate Evangelium, it is also necessary to regulate the various funds, foundations and bodies that, over the years, have been born within the curial institutions and which are directly dependent on them.
Although these bodies have a formally separate juridical personality and a certain administrative autonomy, it must be recognized that they are instrumental to the realization of the aims proper to the curial institutions at the service of the ministry of the Successor of Peter and that, therefore, they too are, if not otherwise indicated by the legislation establishing them in some way, public entities of the Holy See. Since their temporal goods are part of the patrimony of the Apostolic See, it is necessary that they are subjected not only to the supervision of the curial institutions on which they depend, but also to the control and supervision of the economic bodies of the Roman Curia.
In this way, considering can. 116 § 1 of the Codex Iuris Canonici, instrumental juridical persons are clearly distinguished from other non-profit foundations, associations and entities which, although having their headquarters in the Vatican City State, are nonetheless born from the initiative of private individuals and not they are instrumental in the realization of the proper ends of the curial institutions. They are governed by their own statutes and not by these norms, unless expressly provided otherwise.
Therefore, with this Apostolic Letter in the form of Motu Proprio, I establish....
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