Pope Francis approves recommendations on the future of the Ior
(Vatican Radio) The Holy See’s press office has issued a statement saying the Holy
Father has approved a proposal on the future of the Istituto per le Opere di Religione
(IOR), reaffirming the importance of the IOR’s mission for the good of the Catholic
Church, the Holy See and the Vatican City State.
The statement reads:
The
Holy Father has approved a proposal on the future of the Istituto per le Opere di
Religione (IOR), reaffirming the importance of the IOR’s mission for the good of the
Catholic Church, the Holy See and the Vatican City State.
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.
The
IOR 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.
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.