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SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO THE STAFF OF THE OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL
Monday, December 11, 2023
In a meeting with the Vatican’s Office of the Auditor General, Pope Francis urged staff to fight the "insidiousness of corruption" in the Holy See and Vatican City State.TO THE STAFF OF THE OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL
Monday, December 11, 2023
The body, which he himself established nine years ago, serves as the anti-corruption authority of the Holy See and Vatican City State, and carries out financial audits of entities belonging to them.
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Full Text Speech by the Holy Father he delivered
Dear Ones,
I greet you and welcome you, happy to meet you in the imminence of Holy Christmas.
You belong to a Vatican body established, together with others, nine years ago, with the Motu Proprio Fidelis dispensator et prudens, with which I wanted to launch some economic reforms, in continuity with the work already started by Pope Benedict XVI. A body whose functions were then better defined in subsequent Statutes and reiterated in the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium. Of the various aspects and values that characterize you, I would like to briefly recall three: independence, attention to international practices and professionalism.
First: independence. The Office of the Auditor General does not depend hierarchically on other bodies. However, far from meaning arbitrariness, this implies the responsibility of an action that is always well thought out and inspired by the supreme principle of charity. It is important that the spirit of fraternal correction always guides you, even when it is necessary to report accounting and administrative practices that do not comply with the rules and situations to be corrected. The Word of God teaches us that "the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father disciplines his beloved son" (Pr 3:12). Let us remember these words that accompany the correction: love and fatherhood, always, without giving in to the temptation of easy grandstanding. Regarding this, then, it is good to remember, in a synodal spirit, the importance of the collaboration of your Office with the other Dicasteries of the Curia and in particular with the economic bodies, avoiding "competitions" which can easily turn into rivalries, even if personal level.
Second: attention to international practices. It is important to promote the application of the best of them, to promote equity and to be aligned with the rest of the international community, provided - obviously - the rules do not contradict the teachings of the Church.
Third: professionalism. You have considerable professional background, acquired in important organizations. In some cases, it involves decades of experience working at a high level, and I thank you for deciding to put all this at the service of the Holy See. I know that in order to maintain high professional standards you invest a lot in training, and that's a good thing. In fact, I would say that it is a real moral obligation for you to be updated on the continuous evolution of the numerous and complex rules that govern auditing.
Furthermore, the Office of the Auditor General is one of the Anti-Corruption Authorities, pursuant to the Mérida Convention, which the Holy See joined in 2016 also on behalf of the Vatican City State. Certainly those who work at the Holy See and the Vatican City State do so with fidelity and honesty, but the lure of corruption is so dangerous that it is necessary extremely vigilant. I know that you pay a lot of attention to this, with work whose fruits are managed with firmness and merciful discretion at the same time because, without prejudice to the need for absolute transparency in every action, scandals serve more to fill the pages of newspapers than to correct behaviors in depth. Furthermore, I invite you to help those responsible for the administration of the assets of the Holy See to create safeguards that can prevent, "upstream", the danger of corruption itself from materializing.
Dear ones, I want to add something that goes beyond your work. I know that some of you serve at the Caritas canteen. It's a beautiful thing, and I tell you: do it with an open heart, with simplicity and gratuitousness, and find the time to talk to these people and listen to their stories. We often meet people who need friendship, but who are left alone. Many times a smile and a word are worth even more than a plate of pasta.
I thank you for your work, and I wish you and your families best wishes for Christmas. And please don't forget to pray for me. Thank you.
Dear Ones,
I greet you and welcome you, happy to meet you in the imminence of Holy Christmas.
You belong to a Vatican body established, together with others, nine years ago, with the Motu Proprio Fidelis dispensator et prudens, with which I wanted to launch some economic reforms, in continuity with the work already started by Pope Benedict XVI. A body whose functions were then better defined in subsequent Statutes and reiterated in the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium. Of the various aspects and values that characterize you, I would like to briefly recall three: independence, attention to international practices and professionalism.
First: independence. The Office of the Auditor General does not depend hierarchically on other bodies. However, far from meaning arbitrariness, this implies the responsibility of an action that is always well thought out and inspired by the supreme principle of charity. It is important that the spirit of fraternal correction always guides you, even when it is necessary to report accounting and administrative practices that do not comply with the rules and situations to be corrected. The Word of God teaches us that "the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father disciplines his beloved son" (Pr 3:12). Let us remember these words that accompany the correction: love and fatherhood, always, without giving in to the temptation of easy grandstanding. Regarding this, then, it is good to remember, in a synodal spirit, the importance of the collaboration of your Office with the other Dicasteries of the Curia and in particular with the economic bodies, avoiding "competitions" which can easily turn into rivalries, even if personal level.
Second: attention to international practices. It is important to promote the application of the best of them, to promote equity and to be aligned with the rest of the international community, provided - obviously - the rules do not contradict the teachings of the Church.
Third: professionalism. You have considerable professional background, acquired in important organizations. In some cases, it involves decades of experience working at a high level, and I thank you for deciding to put all this at the service of the Holy See. I know that in order to maintain high professional standards you invest a lot in training, and that's a good thing. In fact, I would say that it is a real moral obligation for you to be updated on the continuous evolution of the numerous and complex rules that govern auditing.
Furthermore, the Office of the Auditor General is one of the Anti-Corruption Authorities, pursuant to the Mérida Convention, which the Holy See joined in 2016 also on behalf of the Vatican City State. Certainly those who work at the Holy See and the Vatican City State do so with fidelity and honesty, but the lure of corruption is so dangerous that it is necessary extremely vigilant. I know that you pay a lot of attention to this, with work whose fruits are managed with firmness and merciful discretion at the same time because, without prejudice to the need for absolute transparency in every action, scandals serve more to fill the pages of newspapers than to correct behaviors in depth. Furthermore, I invite you to help those responsible for the administration of the assets of the Holy See to create safeguards that can prevent, "upstream", the danger of corruption itself from materializing.
Dear ones, I want to add something that goes beyond your work. I know that some of you serve at the Caritas canteen. It's a beautiful thing, and I tell you: do it with an open heart, with simplicity and gratuitousness, and find the time to talk to these people and listen to their stories. We often meet people who need friendship, but who are left alone. Many times a smile and a word are worth even more than a plate of pasta.
I thank you for your work, and I wish you and your families best wishes for Christmas. And please don't forget to pray for me. Thank you.
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