Pope Francis on Tuesday gave Vatican
Bank IOR the exclusive on managing the financial activities of
the Holy See and associated Vatican institutions managing
finances in any form in what was called a "rescript" of the
once-controversial bank's remit.
The bank was dogged by scandals in the 70s and 80s, the nadir
being the murder of 'God's Banker' Roberto Calvi in 1982, found
hanging under London's Blackfriars Bridge in what is thought to
have been a Mafia vendetta.
It has worked hard to clean up its reputation in recent years,
getting on Italy's white list of clean banks and receiving good
marks from the IRS and Europe's anti-money-laundering body
Moneyval.
The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR)—commonly known as
the Vatican Bank—will now have exclusive competence over asset
management and shall oversee the management of all the movable
assets of the Holy See and its related institutions, Vatican
News reported.
Pope Francis issued that decree in a rescript published on
Tuesday in the Osservatore Romano, the Vatican daily.
The Pope stipulates that the rescript "shall have the nature of
an authentic interpretation of the provisions in force and shall
have firm and stable force, notwithstanding anything to the
contrary, even if it precedes the rescript or specifically
refers to special issues."
The rescript concerns Article 219, paragraph 3 of the
Constitution on the Roman Curia "Praedicate Evangelium."
The relevant article is to be interpreted "in the sense that the
activity of asset manager and custodian of the movable assets of
the Holy See and of the institutions linked to the Holy See
belongs exclusively to the Institute for the Works of Religion."
For this reason, Holy See and related institutions "that possess
financial assets and liquid assets, in whatever form they are
held, with financial institutions other than the IOR must inform
the IOR and transfer them to it as soon as possible within 30
days from 1 September 2022."
The papal rescript enters into effect immediately, with
publication in the Holy See's daily newspaper.
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