Pope sets up body of inquiry for finance

VATICAN CITY – Agence France-Presse

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Pope Francis set up a special commission of lay experts on July 19 tasked with overhauling the economic and administrative structure of the Vatican in a radical bid to streamline and clean up the scandal-hit institution.
 
The commission will delve into the workings of the Vatican’s bloated departments and draft reforms to tackle instances of favoritism or corruption, simplify procedures, improve transparency and put economic resources to better use.
 
The commission is tasked with the “simplification and rationalization of the existing bodies and more careful planning of the economic activities of all the Vatican Administrations,” the Vatican said in a statement.
 
It will offer specialist advice on how to “avoid the misuse of economic resources, to improve transparency... to work with ever greater prudence in the financial sphere; to ensure correct application of accounting principles,” it said.
 
The Argentine pope has worked fast since his election in March to establish a series of specialist bodies to tackle corruption and poor management in the Vatican.
 
This commission, which will report directly to him, comes on the heels of the establishment of a separate body looking at how to reform the Vatican bank and the appointment of eight cardinal advisors.
 
The specialists come from Malta, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Singapore.
 
Last month, Pope named a commission of inquiry into the scandal-plagued Vatican bank, whose top two managers resigned amid a widening money-laundering probe by Italian magistrates and a related scandal involving a 20 million euro money-smuggling plot allegedly engineered by a Vatican monsignor.