Pope Francis transfers the financial administration out of the Secretariat of State

Pope Francis has called for responsibility for financial funds and real estate, including a controversial London property, to be transferred from the Vatican Secretariat of State.

The pope asked that the management and administration of funds and investments be entrusted to APSA, which acts as the treasury of the Holy See and manager of the sovereign wealth, and also manages the payroll and operating expenses for the City of Vatican.

Pope Francis' decision, outlined in an August 25 letter to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, was made while the Secretariat of State continues to be at the center of Vatican financial scandals.

In the letter, released by the Vatican on November 5, the pope asked that "particular attention" be paid to two specific financial issues: "investments made in London" and the Centurion Global fund.

Pope Francis asked that the Vatican "exit as soon as possible" from investments, or at least "arrange them in such a way as to eliminate all reputational risks".

The Centurion Global Fund is managed by Enrico Crasso, a longtime investment manager for the Vatican. He told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on October 4 that Pope Francis had called for the fund to be liquidated last year after the media had reported on its use of Vatican assets under its management to invest in Hollywood films, real estate and public services. .

The fund also recorded a loss of around 4,6% in 2018, while incurring management fees of around two million euros, raising questions about the prudential use of Vatican resources.

"And now we are closing it," Crassus said on October 4.

The Secretariat of State has also been criticized for a real estate deal in London. The building at 60 Sloane Avenue was bought over a period of years by Vatican investment manager Raffaele Mincione for £ 350 million. The financier Gianluigi Torzi mediated the final phase of the sale. The Vatican lost money in the purchase and CNA reported on potential conflicts of interest in the deal.

The building is now controlled by the secretariat via a UK registered company, London 60 SA Ltd.

Pope Francis' August 25 letter was released by the Vatican Thursday, with a note from Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, stating that a meeting was held on November 4 to create a Vatican commission to oversee the transfer of responsibility, which will take place over the next three months.

Pope Francis also wrote in the letter that, given the changes requested by him, the role of the Secretariat of the State Administrative Office, which managed the financial activities, or assessed the need for its existence, should be redefined.

Among the pope's requests in the letter is that the Secretariat for the Economy have the supervision of all administrative and financial affairs of the offices of the Roman Curia, including the Secretariat of State, which will have no financial control.

The Secretariat of State will also carry out its operations through an approved budget incorporated into the overall budget of the Holy See, Pope Francis said. The only exception will be those classified operations that concern the sovereignty of the city-state, and which can only be carried out with the approval of the "Commission for Confidential Matters", established last month.

In a November 4 meeting with Pope Francis, a commission was formed to oversee the transfer of the financial administration from the Secretariat of State to the APSA.

The "Commission for Passage and Control", according to Bruni, is made up of the "substitute" of the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the President of APSA, Mons. Nunzio Galantino, and the Prefect of the Secretariat for 'Economy, p. Juan A. Guerrero, SJ

Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Fernando Vérgez, general secretary of the Governorate of the Vatican City State also participated in the meeting on 4 November.

In his letter to Parolin, the pope wrote that in his reform of the Roman Curia he had "reflected and prayed" for an opportunity to give a "better organization" to the economic and financial activities of the Vatican, so that they would be "More evangelical, transparent and efficient".

"The Secretariat of State is undoubtedly the dicastery that most closely and directly supports the action of the Holy Father in his mission, representing an essential point of reference for the life of the Curia and the dicasteries that are part of it", he said Francis.

"However, it does not seem necessary or appropriate for the Secretariat of State to carry out all the functions already attributed to other departments," he continued.

"It is therefore preferable that the principle of subsidiarity be applied also in economic and financial matters, without prejudice to the specific role of the Secretariat of State and the indispensable task it performs".