Vatican City – On the day dedicated to the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, September 29, 2025, Pope Leo XIV signed a new Apostolic Letter in the form of a Motu Proprio, titled Coniuncta cura, which has been made public today. The document introduces significant changes to the structure of the Holy See’s financial investment activities, marking an important step in the reorganization of the Vatican’s economic system.
From Co-responsibility to Communion
In the text, Leo XIV explicitly recalls one of the key principles of the curial reform initiated by Pope Francis with the Constitution Praedicate Evangelium (March 19, 2022): “co-responsibility in communion.” This, the Pope explains, must form the foundation of every service rendered to the Holy See, including in the economic and financial administration. The goal is to consolidate norms and competencies while promoting a “dynamic of mutual collaboration” among the Vatican institutions involved.
The 2022 Rescriptum Abolished
With the new Apostolic Letter, Leo XIV abolishes the Rescriptum ex Audientia SS.mi of August 23, 2022, signed by Pope Francis and titled Instruction on the Administration and Management of the Financial Activities and Liquidity of the Holy See and the Institutions Connected with the Holy See. That document had assigned a centralized control role to the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), requiring all dicasteries and institutions to transfer their funds into accounts managed by that office.
APSA and IOR, the Core of the New Financial Management
The new Motu Proprio reaffirms the general competence of APSA over investment activities but specifies that, in carrying them out, it “makes effective use of the internal organizational structure of the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR).” This clause reasserts the operational role of the so-called “Vatican Bank”, while still allowing—“where more efficient or appropriate”—the use of external financial intermediaries, including those based in other countries, subject to evaluation by the Investment Committee.
An Ethically Bound Investment Policy
All investment activities of the Holy See must now fully comply with the provisions set forth by the Investment Committee, in accordance with the approved Investment Policy. This entails not only prudence and sustainability, but also an ethical and moral evaluation of financial choices, in harmony with the ecclesial and social mission of the Church.
A Signal of Revision
While remaining within the framework established by Praedicate Evangelium, Leo XIV’s document introduces a change of direction from the heavily centralized model of 2022. “It was a request also raised by the College of Cardinals, and we presented it to the Pope, pointing out the distortions of certain ideologically driven decisions made in recent years,” a Curial prelate noted. The Pope aims to foster “shared responsibility”, avoiding both dispersion and concentration of economic power, restoring clarity of roles and greater internal transparency. The Apostolic Letter, published today in L’Osservatore Romano and destined for the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, takes effect immediately. It is the first Motu Proprio of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate and addresses a crucial issue: the Vatican’s finances. “The Pope acknowledged that certain matters indeed needed to be corrected,” a prelate familiar with the economic dossier recently confided, suggesting that the Pontiff intends to restore order and coherence to the complex administrative system of the Holy See. Through this legislative act, Leo XIV marks the beginning of a new season of governance, in which the Church’s economy is called to rediscover its true vocation: to be an instrument of communion, not of power.
p.F.A.
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