New members of the Vatican bank cardinals' commission named

Vatican City, Jan 16, 2014 / 10:17 am

The Commission of Cardinals overseeing the Institute for the Works of Religion, or "Vatican bank", were named on Wednesday; of the five existing members, only one was confirmed in his post.

The five current members are Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, Archbishop of Vienna; Cardinal Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto; Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; Cardinal Santos Abril y Castello, Archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major; and Archbishop Pietro Parolin, secretary of state.

Cardinal Tauran is the only member of the old commission to have been confirmed in his post. Pope Francis' decision to appoint the new commission marks a new era for the Vatican bank.

The cardinals' commission convenes at least bi-annually, and oversees the Vatican bank's compliance with its statutory norms, according to the manner provided for in its by-laws. It is charged with drawing up a report into the juridical standing and activities of the institution.

The commission no longer includes the president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, as it had in its two previous mandates, as a result of the Vatican's adoption of international standards for financial transparency and anti-money laundering efforts.

According to these standards, it is important to make a clear distinction among each of the Vatican institutions involved with financial issues, in order to avoid conflicts of interest. Thus a public authority such as the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See cannot be included in a financial institution such as the Vatican bank.

Pope Francis' appointments to the commission continue the campaign of financial transparency for the Vatican which was initiated under his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

The commission had been renewed in February, 2013, and its five-year mandate was not set to expire until 2017. Pope Francis' decision to appoint commission members so early thus signals his concern and attention to the Vatican bank.

Cardinal Abril y Castello is a long-time Vatican diplomat trusted by Pope Francis; he served as apostolic nuncio to Argentina from 2000 to 2003.

Vatican financial reform was begun in 2009, when the Holy See, under Benedict XVI, signed a monetary agreement with the European Union, and issued an anti-money laundering law the following year.

It underwent an evaluation by the Council of Europe's Moneyval committee in 2011, after which it amended and improved its anti-money laundering law. In July, 2012 the Vatican received a generally positive evaluation from Moneyval.

Pope Francis has established a committee for financial security, and promulgated a law on Oct. 8 establishing a financial system taking into account the peculiarities of the Vatican City State.