On Tuesday, Pope Francis set a deadline for the closure of investment portfolios in foreign banks, including those in Italy, to minimise wriggle room or foot-dragging by Vatican agencies in enforcing tougher financial controls.
Francis released a ‘rescriptum,’ or re-writing, in which he stated that all investments by all departments would have to go through the Vatican bank under new rules that came into effect on September 1.
The papal declaration issued on Tuesday reiterated that there were no exceptions to the law of the Vatican bank’s fundamental role, officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), as established in an article of the Vatican’s new constitution, which was adopted on March 19.
The Vatican adopted a new overarching policy on investments in July to ensure that they are ethical, green, low-risk, and do not involve weapons industries or health sectors involved in abortion, contraception, or embryonic stem cells.
The programme directed Vatican departments to shut their investment accounts or stock holdings in foreign institutions, including those in Italy, and transfer them to the IOR, which would be administered by the Administration of the Holy See (APSA).
The pope set a deadline of Oct. 1 for the transfers to be completed in Tuesday’s statement, hinting that certain departments were dragging their feet.
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