Pope Francis has signed a new anti-corruption law for the Vatican, which prohibits employees from using tax havens investing in companies that go against Church teaching.
“Faithfulness in things of little account is related, according to Scripture, to faithfulness in the important ones,” begins the motu proprio on anti-corruption for members of Vatican management signed by Francis April 26. “Just as being dishonest in things of little importance is related to being dishonest in important matters.”
The Holy See adheres to the United Nations Merida Convention against Corruption, and is therefore compelled to conform to the best practices for preventing and combating corruption. To that end, employees at all managerial levels of the Vatican – from cardinals to lay executive personnel – will be obliged to sign, every two years, a declaration in which they attest that they have not benefitted from any special amnesty or pardon, nor received convictions for crimes, either in the Vatican City State or abroad.
The declaration also demands the employees not to be shareholders or have interests in companies that operate for purposes or in sectors contrary to the Catholic Church’s social teaching. This includes the weapons industry, pornography, or pharmaceutical companies that produce products related to artificial contraception and abortion.