APOSTOLIC LETTER ISSUED
MOTU PROPRIO
FIDELIS DISPENSATOR
ET PRUDENS
OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
ESTABLISHING A NEW COORDINATING
AGENCY FOR THE ECONOMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS OF THE HOLY SEE AND THE VATICAN CITY STATE
Fidelis dispensator et prudens (Lk 12:42)
As the
faithful and prudent administrator has a vocation to care attentively for those
goods that have been entrusted to him, so the Church is conscious of her call
to safeguard and carefully administer her goods in light of her mission of
evangelization, with special care for the needy. In particular, the
responsibility of the economic and financial sectors of the Holy See is
intimately linked to its own particular mission, not only in its service to the
Holy Father in the exercise of his universal ministry but also with respect to
how they correspond to the common good in light of integral human development.
After having
considered carefully the findings of the Pontifical Commission for Reference on
the Organization of the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See
(Chirograph, 18 July 2013) and having conferred with the Council of Cardinals
in drafting a reform of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus and having
heard the Council of Cardinals for the Study of the Organizational and Economic
Questions of the Apostolic See, with this Apostolic Letter in the form of a
Motu Proprio I adopt the following measures:
COUNCIL FOR THE ECONOMY
1. The Council for the Economy is
established as an entity having oversight for the administrative and financial
structures and activities of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the
institutions linked to the Holy See, and the Vatican City State.
2. The Council for the Economy is
composed of 15 members, of whom 8 are chosen from Cardinals and Bishops
reflecting the catholicity of the Church and 7 are lay experts of various
nationalities with recognized professional financial competence.
3. The Council for the Economy is
chaired by a Cardinal Coordinator.
SECRETARIAT FOR THE ECONOMY
4. The Secretariat for the
Economy is established as a dicastery of the Roman Curia in conformity with the
Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus.
5. In keeping with the policies
established by the Council for the Economy, the Secretariat is directly
responsible to the Holy Father and is competent for the economic control and
vigilance over the agencies mentioned in Point 1, including policies and procedures
concerning purchasing and the suitable allocation of human resources, with due
regard to the competencies proper to each agency. The competence of the
Secretariat therefore extends to all that in whatsoever manner concerns such
material.
6. The Secretariat for the
Economy is presided over by a Cardinal Prefect, who acts in collaboration with
the Secretary of State. A Prelate Secretary General is charged with assisting
the Cardinal Prefect.
AUDITOR GENERAL
7. An Auditor General is
appointed by the Holy Father and is empowered to conduct audits of the agencies
mentioned in Point 1.
STATUTES
8. The Cardinal Prefect is
responsible for the preparation of the definitive Statutes of the Council for
the Economy, the Secretariat for the Economy and the office of Auditor General.
The Statutes are to be presented quam primum for approval to the Holy Father.
I dispose that
everything here established have immediate, full and lasting force, also
abrogating all norms to the contrary, and that the present Apostolic Letter
issued Motu Proprio be published in the 24-25 February 2014 edition of
L’Osservatore Romano and thereafter in Acta Apostolicae Sedis.
Given in Rome,
at Saint Peter’s, on 24 February of the year 2014, the first of my Pontificate.
FRANCISCUS