These were the two main themes reiterated Tuesday morning by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, in his speech at the presentation of the new Regulations governing the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See.
During his reform of the Roman Curia, Paul VI first established the office responsible for the management of the Economic Affairs of the Holy See. This office had to fulfil specific tasks: knowledge, control, supervision and coordination "of all the Holy See’s most important investments and business transactions”.
Pope Paul VI wanted to modernize all activities with the fundamental objective of ensuring an essential aspect of its very existence for the Church, that of "self-sufficiency".
Moreover, said Cardinal Bertone, the Church has "always sought to consider the mere instrumentality of temporal goods in relation to the carrying out of its mission," that being "the worship of God, the works of the apostolate and of charity, adequate support of the clergy and other ministers.
"The Code of Canon Law - said the Secretary of State - states that for the achievement of its "institutional purposes" it is permissible for the Church to “acquire, possess, sell and administrate temporal goods".
However, continued the Secretary of State, "the Church, as such, has no assets: it possesses them through institutions that compose it" and therefore this explains the central role played by a body such as the Prefecture for Economic Affairs.
In the recent past, noted Cardinal Bertone, practice had somehow reduced the tasks originally meant for the Prefecture, transforming it into "a sort of central accounting house of the Holy See" and blurring its duty to assume the tasks of "general economic planning and coordination".
However, with the new Regulations, he added, "it is returning to its original spirit", according to which - the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs places itself as a higher body over the single Vatican administrations, with a direct link to the Secretary of State, with which it must agree on "orientation and programming."
Cardinal Bertone noted that the new Regulations, issued in February, came to light at a time when the Holy See had decided to adapt itself “to the international standards of financial control".
As a result, he continued, "the necessary transparency in the economic and financial activities of the Holy See and Vatican City State requires an increasingly incisive and unified commitment to correctness on the part of the individual Administrations in the management of their heritage and economic activities".
Finally, Cardinal Bertone made reference to the crisis that has hit the world, saying that "the Holy See", must proceed in "the gradual, but effective, reduction of costs in the face of a continuing inability to increase revenues at least in proportion to the deficits as recently recorded in the consolidated balances. "
"It is most necessary - he concluded - that we all become more aware of the need to support not only the mission of the Church and the Holy See, but also its credibility."