Pope Francis met on Monday morning with staff from the Vatican’s Office of the Auditor General.
The
body, which he himself established nine years ago, serves as the
anti-corruption authority of the Holy See and Vatican City State, and
carries out financial audits of entities belonging to them.
The fight against corruption
In his address to staff, Pope Francis stressed the importance of eliminating corruption in the Vatican.
As he is recovering from bronchitis, Pope Francis did not read his
prepared speech, but instead handed it over to be read afterwards.
“Those who work at the Holy See and the Vatican City State certainly
do so faithfully and honestly,” the Pope's speech read, “but the lure of
corruption is so dangerous that we must be extremely vigilant.”
“I know you dedicate much time to this,” the Pope added, stressing the
need to balance “absolute transparency in every action” with “merciful
discretion”, since scandals “serve more to fill the pages of the
newspapers than to correct behaviour in depth.”
“in addition to
this,” the Pope concluded, “I invite you to help those responsible for
the administration of the Holy See's assets to create safeguards that
can prevent, ‘upstream’, the insidiousness of corruption from
materializing.”
Independence, international principles, and professionalism
Pope Francis continued his address by stressing three of the audit
office’s core characteristics: independence, attention to international
principles, and professionalism.
The Office is truly independent, the Pope said, because it “does not depend hierarchically on other entities.”
“Far from implying any arbitrariness,” however, he stressed, this
independence should lead to “action that is always well thought-out and
inspired by the highest principle of charity.”
The application
of international best practices, meanwhile, the Pope added, is important
“to promote equity and alignment with the rest of the international
community,”
Finally, he said, professionalism is key. Noting
that many members of the Office possess “decades of high-level
experience”, and are dedicated to continuous on-the-job education, Pope
Francis notes that “it is a real moral obligation for you to be
up-to-date about the continuing evolution” of the field.
Service to the poor
Pope Francis concluded his address with an invitation to the staff of the Office regarding “something that goes beyond your work.”
“I know that some of you serve at the Caritas soup kitchen,” he said.
“This is a beautiful thing, and I want to say to you: Do it with an
open heart, simply and freely, and take time to talk to people and
listen to their stories.”
And, he added, “I thank you for your work, and send my best wishes for Holy Christmas to you and your families.”