Economic offices of the Holy See

[twf]

With the establishment of the Secretariat for the Economy of the Holy See, under Cardinal Pell, why do Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See and the Administration for the Patrimony of the Holy See still exist as separate offices under their own cardinals? Perhaps this is something the ongoing reforms the Pope’s Council of Cardinals is working on… but it strikes me as odd that these offices wouldn’t have been rolled into the new Secretariat as soon as it was established.

 

[MACHIU]

From a quick google search, they do have different functions.

Administration for the Patrimony of the Holy See does the management of all economic activities which includes purchasing, human resource and property management. I think this is comparable to the Finance & Administration and/or Treasury division in a normal company. Mid last year, many of this office’s functions was taken over by the Secretariat for the Economy.

Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See audits and publishes the financial reports of all Roman Curia offices. It also does budget and consulting on major projects. This may be comparable to an internal audit division in a normal company.

Hope this helps

 

[twf]

From a quick google search, they do have different functions.

Administration for the Patrimony of the Holy See does the management of all economic activities which includes purchasing, human resource and property management. I think this is comparable to the Finance & Administration and/or Treasury division in a normal company. Mid last year, many of this office’s functions was taken over by the Secretariat for the Economy.

Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See audits and publishes the financial reports of all Roman Curia offices. It also does budget and consulting on major projects. This may be comparable to an internal audit division in a normal company.

Hope this helps

When Cardinal Pell’s new Secretariat was established, I understood that all of the functions you list above would now be the responsibility of the Secretariat. Certainly budgeting, purchasing, and HR was all listed in the motu proprio. Maybe responsibilities are still being transitioned?

 

[MACHIU]

Given time, I am sure you are correct that the two previous offices will be merged with the new Secretariat, or at least have most of their functions transferred.

However, please note that we are talking about a thousand years old organisation that is (in)famous for ‘not keeping with time’. The Council of Cardinals may need a few more meetings to get things perfect.

One of the the main points of this organisational shuffle is to apply best international practice. I cannot imagine in an international organisation to have the management and audit function controlled by the same body.

From what I read previously, the Administration for the Patrimony of the Holy See will continue its function as the official bank of the Vatican City. This is different from IOR (or Vatican Bank although not technically a bank and does not manage anything within Vatican City) who manages the assets of worldwide Catholic orders and charities that are not directly owned by the Holy See.