Vatican, IOR: in case of marriage one of the employees must leave the position

No marriages between colleagues at the IOR. In this case, one of the two would have to leave the position. “Since the Institute brings together just over a hundred employees in a single location, without branches – the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) begins with regard to the regulation against the hiring of spouses that has raised doubts and controversy -, this rule is, in fact, fundamental to prevent there are inevitable professional conflicts of interest between the prospective spouses involvedboth the emergence of possible doubts of family management among its customers or the general public“.

With the wedding one of the two must leave the place

The Institute explains that “to promote the interest of those who express the intention to marry, by inserting in the provision the right for the couple to freely choose which of the two interested parties intends to maintain their own role, and therefore accepting the possibility that it is the resource with the most important role that leaves.

“In this way, while protecting its employees in the event of marriage between colleagues, the Institute protects the prevalence of the public interest of which it is the bearer, as the Central Body of the Catholic Church and a public canonical legal person. Public interest that, necessarily, must prevail over the individual interests of individual employees. The adoption of disciplinary measures is therefore part of the broader process of modernization of the Institute in favor of absolute protection of confidentiality towards subjects external to the organization, in line with the international practices adopted by financial institutions”.

The renewal process

The Institute for the Works of Religion explains that it has been “engaged for some time in a process of profound organizational and regulatory renewal, in line with the best international practices that govern the activities of financial institutions. The entire process arises from the obligation for the Institute to comply with the provisions of Law XVIII/2013 on transparency, supervision and financial information, strongly desired by Pope Benedict XVI, and to apply the subsequent implementing regulations, issued from 2015 to today by the Financial Supervision and Information Authority (Asif).

In recent years, the IOR has therefore renewed its statute and regulations, fully interpreting the spirit of change entrusted to it by law. In this way, it has also filled legislative gaps and regulated key matters such as, for example, governance, the internal control system, the selection, remuneration and incentive processes for personnel, conflicts of interest, according to criteria of fairness and impartiality”.