Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic letter issued “motu proprio” creates new standards for Vatican investments and repeals a 2022 rescript from Pope Francis related to the administration and management of the Holy See’s financial activities, according to an Oct. 6 Vatican News report.
Pope Leo’s Sept. 29 apostolic letter “Coniuncta cura” is available in Italian on the Vatican Press Office website. Part of it focuses on principles of collaboration and co-responsibility, the outlet reports.
The letter stipulates that Holy See financial investments will be undertaken by the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See through the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), which is sometimes called “the Vatican Bank,” according to Vatican News.
An exception to this stipulation is if “the competent bodies, as established by the statutes of the Investment Committee, deem it more efficient or convenient to use financial intermediaries established in other countries,” the outlet reports.
This new norm expands the possible number of financial intermediaries that the Vatican investments can use, as the IOR was previously the only one permitted.
In August 2022, Pope Francis issued a rescript stating that the Institute for the IOR holds the exclusive responsibility to serve as custodian and manager of the moveable assets of the Holy See and institutions associated with the Holy See.
According to Catholic News Agency, the late Pope Francis issued the rescript, which moved all of the Holy See’s financial assets that were in outside banks into the IOR, following an investment controversy related to the Vatican Secretariat of State.
Vatican News reports that Pope Leo’s letter repeals this rescript and that he issued it after reviewing and approving recommendations from the Council for the Economy.
Pope Pius XII founded the IOR in 1942.
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