Pope approves IOR reform, it will continue its "important mission" for the Church
Vatican City ( AsiaNews ) - Pope Francis has
decided that the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) has an "important"
mission "for the good of the Catholic Church, the Holy See and Vatican
City State" and has therefore approved its
reform. In
short, the IOR (premises pictured) according to a statement from the Holy See Press
Office, "will
continue to serve with prudence and provide specialized financial services to the
Catholic Church worldwide. The valuable services that can be offered by the
Institute assist the Holy Father in his mission as universal pastor and also
aid those institutions and individuals who collaborate with him in his ministry".
The
Istitute's spokesman Max Hohenberg said Pope Francis' decision "represents a powerful endorsement of our very mission and the hard
work accomplished over the past 12 months", who added that now " the priorities of the institution now are: complete its client screening by the summer of this year, improve its
integration with other Vatican City State structures and introduce other
"operational improvements".
The
Pope's decision comes after many had advanced the hypothesis of the closure of
the "Vatican Bank". The
hypothesis was also based on some statements expressed by Francis himself. On
April 24 last year, celebrating the Mass attended by IOR employees he said
said: " But there are those from the IOR ... excuse me, eh! .. some things are
necessary, offices are required ... ok! but they are necessary up to a certain
point: as an aid to this love story. But when organization takes first place,
love falls down and the Church, poor thing, becomes an NGO. And this is not the
way forward." And on June 11, he commented that "St. Peter did not have a bank
account". "
I do not know - he said again returning from the trip to Brazil - how the IOR issue
will end. Some say that perhaps it is better as a bank, others that an aid
fund, others say close it down".
As
to the proposed reform approved by Pope explains the Press Statement reads: The proposal has been jointly developed by
representatives of the Pontifical Referring Commission to the IOR (CRIOR), the
Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Organization of the Economic-
Administrative Structure of the Holy See (COSEA), the IOR's Commission of
Cardinals and the IOR Board of Superintendence and presented to the Holy Father
by the Cardinal-Prefect for the Secretariat for the Economy with the consent of
Cardinal Santos Abril Y Castelló, President of the IOR's Commission of
Cardinals. It is drawn from information on the legal status of the IOR and its
operations gathered by and presented to the Holy Father and his Council of
Cardinals by CRIOR in February 2014".
"With the confirmation of the
IOR's mission and at the request of Cardinal-Prefect Pell, the President of the
Board of Superintendence, Ernst von Freyberg, and the management of the IOR, will
finalize their plan to ensure that the IOR can fulfil its mission as part of
the new financial structures of the Holy See/Vatican City State. The plan will
be presented to the Holy Father's Council of Cardinals and the Council for the
Economy".
"The activities of the IOR will
continue to fall under the regulatory supervision of AIF (Autorità di
Informazione Finanziaria), the competent authority within the Holy See and
Vatican City State. In compliance with Motu Proprios of August 8th, 2013 and
November 15th, 2013, as well as Law No XVIII on transparency, supervision and
financial information which came into force on October 8th, 2013, a
comprehensive legal and institutional framework has been introduced to regulate
financial activities within the Holy See and Vatican City State. In that respect,
the Cardinal-Prefect Pell has confirmed the importance of a sustainable
systematic alignment of the legal and regulatory framework of the Holy See/Vatican
City State with regulatory international best practice. Strict regulatory
supervision and improvements in compliance, transparency and operations
initiated in 2012 and substantially accelerated in 2013 are critical for the
Institute's future". (FP)
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