Pope Leo XIV reforms the financial investments of the IOR: new directives for transparency and collaboration

Pope Leo XIV takes away the IOR's exclusive financial investments. In an Apostolic Letter in the form of a Motu Proprio on the Holy See's financial investment activities, Pope Leo emphasises that "co-responsibility in the communio is one of the principles for the service of the Roman Curia, as desired by Pope Francis and established in the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium of 19 March 2022. This shared responsibility, which also concerns the curial institutions to which the Holy See's financial investment activities are entrusted, requires that the provisions that have succeeded one another over time be consolidated and that the roles and competencies of each institution be clearly defined, making it possible for everyone to converge in a dynamic of mutual collaboration". Given these reasons, "having carefully considered the recommendations unanimously approved by the Council for the Economy and having consulted persons expert in this matter, with this letter the Pontiff establishes that The Rescriptum ex Audientia SS.mi, entitled Instruction on the Administration and Management of the Financial Assets and Liquidity of the Holy See and Institutions Connected with the Holy See, of 23 August 2022, is abrogated".

"The Holy See's financial investment activities, which are dedicated to its own use and carried out in accordance with Article 219 of the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium, must comply with the provisions established by the Investment Committee, in accordance with the approved Investment Policy," it is now stated. Furthermore, "in determining the Holy See's financial investment activities, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See generally makes effective use of the internal organisational structure of the Institute for Works of Religion, unless the competent bodies, as established by the statutes of the Investment Committee, deem it more efficient or convenient to have recourse to financial intermediaries established in other States".