Pope Francis has published on January 16, 2023 two apostolic letters in the form of Motu Proprio concerning the administration and financial management of the Holy See.
The first of these documents modifies and integrates the Motu Proprio "On transparency, control and competition in the procedures for awarding public contracts by the Holy See and Vatican City State.The "Rules" and "Jurisdictional protection", which was published on May 19, 2020, and the related "Standards" and "Jurisdictional protection".
The second of these documents defines the limits and modalities of ordinary administration.
The objective of both Motu Proprio is the promotion of "effective competition among bidders, in particular through measures to counteract illicit competitive agreements and corruption".
In this regard, special attention is paid to the contracts entered into by the State Government The Vatican City Health Care Fund is not only responsible for the purchase of goods for resale, but also for the purchase of goods and services of the Pontifical Representations and for the agreements entered into by the Health Care Fund "with doctors and hospitalization, assistance and care establishments" in relation to the health care services provided to its members.
Direct supervision by the Pope
Also subject to the intervention of the Pontiff are "contracts for the acquisition, by the Entities, of financial instruments or financial intermediation services falling within the scope of the operations regulated by the Investment Policy of the Holy See and the Vatican City State; the acquisition of goods to donate to the needy, within the limits and according to the procedures established by the Secretariat for the Economy of the purchases of goods and services, indicated by order, according to their respective competences, of the Secretariat for the Economy and of the Cardinal President of the Governatorato, which, according to commercial usage, are settled in cash or with electronic means of payment and for which, the supplier is indifferent and competition between several suppliers on the price or characteristics of the goods is effectively impossible, provided that the same have not been the subject of an agreement or framework agreement stipulated by the Apsa or the Governorate of the Vatican City State of the characteristic purchases of sanitary structures, established by a provision of the Secretariat for the Economy; the awarding of contracts to commercial companies over which the Entity exercises a control analogous to that exercised over its own internal subsidiaries, regulated by specific procedures approved by the Secretariat for the Economy".
Companies with no violations or mistreatment of workers
To clarify the proper functioning of the management, Pope Francis made it clear that the bidding procedures will exclude all companies that have committed serious infractions regarding the payment of taxes and fees, if they fail to comply in terms of workers' health, if they reside in countries with privileged tax regimes and if they are subject to liquidation procedures. Conflicts of interest of any kind, false declarations and environmentally unfriendly behavior are not permitted.
Also prohibited are businessmen "resident in jurisdictions with a high risk of money laundering, terrorist financing and/or proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, identified by the Financial Intelligence and Supervisory Authority in the course of their institutional activity".
The two new Motu Proprio were drafted on the basis of the text of the Constitution. Praedicate Evangelium.
A limit is set on the autonomy of expenditure of the various dicasteries, all of which are subject to the control of the Secretariat for the Economy: "In view of this, it is established that approval must be requested when the act exceeds 2% of the figure resulting from the average calculated on the total costs of the requesting Entity, as it results from the final approved balance sheets of the last three years. In any case, approval will not be required for acts whose value is less than 150,000.00 euros", reads one of the two Motu Proprio.
Any claims against the measures must be filed with the Secretariat for the Economy within a peremptory term of fifteen days from the date of notification. This is without prejudice, however, to the right to appeal to the Supreme Court of the Republic. Apostolic Signatura.
