VATICAN CITY
Bloomberg
by Alessandro Speciale
March 3, 2015
(Bloomberg) — Pope Francis consolidated his overhaul of the Vatican’s financial system by publishing the statutes of three new economic bodies created to help increase transparency and modernize the centuries-old institution.
The statues of the Council for the Economy, the Secretariat for the Economy, and an independent Auditor General, all created in the past few years, were published on the Vatican website. Jointly, the bodies promote modern management principles and oversee Vatican offices that have operated independently in the past.
A more transparent and accountable handling of the Church’s affairs has been a key priority for the pope since his election in 2013. The first non-European pontiff in almost 1,300 years, who vowed to make the church “poor, and for the poor,” Francis is trying to restore the image of the Church’s finances following several scandals.
The Council for the Economy “follows international best practices in public administration, with the aim of an ethical and efficient financial and administrative management,” according to one of the three legal texts published on the Vatican website.
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