Holy See

Pope expands welfare for Vatican employees: 5 paid days for new fathers

The novelties in the 'Rescript': three days per month of paid leave for parents of disabled children also foreseen

by Rome Editorial Staff

12 August 2025

Papa Leone XIV: "Potenti non ignorino desiderio universale di pace"

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3' min read

Five days of one hundred per cent paid leave for Vatican employees on the occasion of the birth of a child and three days each month of paid leave for parents of disabled children. Leo XIV approved a number of extensions of labour protections included in the Rescript released by the Vatican. It is not yet equal to European legislation where the days, varying from country to country, can be up to 30, but it is nevertheless a step forward for the Overseas State where, despite the Pontiffs' messages on the centrality of the family, protections and measures in favour of the family unit were missing.

The novelties concern not only 'paternity leave' and protections for families with disabled children, but also the granting of family allowance for 'legitimate or legitimised children and their equivalents, over the age of 18', which can be claimed up to the age of 26.

The new features included in the 'Rescript'

These are rules introduced by the Rescriptum ex audientia of Leo XIV, i.e. the document issued after having consulted in audience on 28 July last, the prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, layman Maximino Caballero Ledo, who in turn illustrated to Pope Prevost the determinations "unanimously taken" by the Council of Ulsa, the Labour Office of the Apostolic See, composed of representatives of both the various bodies of the Holy See and the Governorate, and their respective employees.

Permit pay for new fathers

The new legislation thus establishes that the employee 'is entitled to five days' paid leave on the occasion of the birth of a child, to be understood as working days' that 'may be taken continuously and/or fractionally for full days and not by the hour, no later than thirty days after the event'. The employed father is entitled, for the five days, to one hundred per cent of his salary.

Support for parents of disabled children

With regard to disabled children, on the other hand, 'parents, alternatively, are entitled to three days' paid leave each month, which may also be taken continuously, provided that the child is not in full-time care in specialised institutions'. Family allowances are also extended: 'Legitimate or legitimised or equivalent children, over the age of 18: if students, during the period of secondary school studies up to the maximum age of 20; or for the entire duration of university studies or studies recognised as equivalent by the Holy See, up to the maximum age of 26, provided they are documented by a certificate of enrolment issued by the university'.

The demands of Vatican employees

Satisfied although ready to continue the battle, Adlv, the Association of Lay Employees of the Vatican, which welcomes the news "very positively", the result, it claims, "of years of struggle", of "work that has involved patiently listening to the problems of its members" and that "has highlighted the discrepancies between Vatican regulations and Italian and European ones". "We will continue to verify and report any anomalous situations in the various departments and offices," the association assures, "so that employees, as well as their families, are fully represented and protected. On the subject of family benefits, there are still some proposals pending: apart from income, for example, we believe that every family with children is entitled to family allowances, albeit in proportion to their wealth situation. With regard to disability, a particularly sensitive topic, the Pontiffs, in recent years, have always reiterated that the disabled, these 'special' children, have full dignity and that their integration must also pass through work. We hope that this concept will also be fully understood in the Vatican'.