By Sergio Centofanti

The Holy See Press Office published on Saturday the Decree of the President of the Governorate, Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, with which amendments were made to Law XVIII of 8 October 2013 on transparency, supervision and financial information.

The changes are part of the reform process requested by Pope Francis in order to make the management of Vatican economic resources more and more accurate and transparent.

This was discussed with Carmelo Barbagallo, President of the Financial Information Authority (FIA), the competent institution of the Holy See and Vatican City State in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

Q: Dr. Barbagallo, can you tell us what is the purpose of these changes, and why it was necessary to make them?

Before entering into the merits of your question, I would like to say a few words about the importance of Law XVIII introduced in 2013. This legislation constitutes the stance of the Holy See and Vatican City State in the prevention and combating of money laundering and terrorist financing. It is a text in continuous and progressive evolution, which takes into account the Community sources of reference on the subject – which the Holy See has undertaken to transpose with the Monetary Convention between the European Union and Vatican City State of 2009 – and the characteristics of its jurisdiction. It makes it possible to constantly align the Vatican’s legislation with the best international standards. This work would not have been possible without the active participation of all interested parties: the Secretariat of State, the Governorate of Vatican City State, the Secretariat for the Economy, as well as the Financial Information Authority. I, therefore, take this opportunity to thank everyone.

In reference to your question, with the changes now introduced, the Fifth Directive of the European Union on the prevention and fight against money laundering and terrorist financing has been transposed and some of the rules referring to the Fourth Directive have been improved. I would also like to emphasize how the opportunity has been taken to transfer into this law the important progress made in recent years to make the supervisory activity more and more effective, first of all through an intensification of the mechanisms of collaboration between the different Authorities involved.

Q: This is, therefore, a new step by the Vatican in the direction of transparency and increasingly intense supervision of activities of a financial nature….

Yes. The latest amendments to Law XVIII are part of an overall strategy aimed at making the management of Vatican finances increasingly transparent, within a framework of intensive and coordinated checks. It is a path that has been accelerated since 2010, with the creation of the Financial Information Authority, and which finds its most recent and significant expression in the Motu Proprio of June 1 and the Ordinance of August 19, 2020, concerning respectively, the procedures for the award of public contracts and the obligation to report suspicious activities by Voluntary Organizations and Legal Persons.

Consistent with this path, Law XVIII has further strengthened the defense mechanisms and controls of entities that, in the performance of their noble purposes, are in various ways affected by financial flows (non-profit organizations, legal persons, voluntary organizations, public authorities).

Q: The Pope reiterated something last Thursday when he received the experts of Moneyval: that measures are needed to protect a “clean finance” to prevent merchants from “speculating in that sacred temple that is humanity”…

It is a fundamental duty of every system to protect and defend the dignity of every person. In this context, prudent management and effective control are not only legal but also moral duties.

This is even more true when it is the flow of money that is subject to supervision: Movements that may be at the service of a just cause, but may sometimes derive from illegal activities to be “cleaned up” or directed to sow terror. The awareness of potential threats and vulnerabilities, the effectiveness of controls, the transparency of financial choices also help to avoid risks that could affect the missionary and charitable activities of the Catholic Church.

For my part, I am convinced that the changes made to this Law, as well as all the regulations enacted in recent years, can demonstrate, both internally and to external observers, the firm commitment to a matter in which the Church takes an uncompromising position.

By Vatican News 

Greeting a delegation from the Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy in the Vatican on Saturday, the Pope told them that the poetry of Dante Alighieri is just as relevant today as it was 700 years ago.

Dante’s resonance

He said this “extraordinary exponent of a golden age of European civilization” has the ability to resonate with people. “Teenagers, for example…if they have the opportunity to approach Dante’s poetry in a way that is accessible to them, inevitably find, on the one hand, all the distance between the author and his world; and yet, on the other, they feel a surprising resonance.”

Pope Francis explained that “this happens especially where the fascination of the true, the beautiful and the good, ultimately the fascination of God makes its powerful attraction felt.”

Exile and inspiration

The Pope noted that “Ravenna, for Dante, is the city of the “last refuge”. The poet spent his remaining years there and completed his work the Divine Comedy, which included the final part called Paradise.

Pope Francis recalled Dante’s period of exile – the result of being on the losing side of a battle – which he said “so marked his existence and also inspired his writing.”

The poet Mario Luzi, said the Pope, “has highlighted the value of the upheaval and superior discovery that the experience of exile has reserved for Dante. This makes us immediately think of the Bible, the exile of the people of Israel to Babylon.”

Similarly, for Dante, he pointed out, “exile was so significant that it became a key to interpreting not only his life but the ‘journey’ of every man and woman in history and beyond.”

Invitation to hope

Dante’s death in Ravenna took place on the same day as the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Pope Francis noted that, in 1965, on the occasion of the seventh centenary of Dante’s birth, St. Paul VI donated to Ravenna a golden cross for his tomb.

“That same cross, on the occasion of this centenary,” he continued, “will shine again in the place that preserves the mortal remains of the Poet. May it be an invitation to hope, that hope of which Dante is a prophet.”

Pope Francis expressed the hope that the celebrations for the seventh centenary of the death of the “supreme Poet”, “will stimulate us to revisit his work [The Divine Comedy] so that, made aware of our condition as exiles, we allow ourselves to be motivated to that path of conversion.” 

“Dante, in fact, invites us once again to rediscover the lost or clouded sense of our human journey,” he said.

In conclusion, the Pope drew inspiration from St Paul VI’s invitation “to enrich ourselves with Dante’s experience to cross the many dark woods of our land and happily make our pilgrimage through history, to reach the goal dreamed and desired by every man: ‘the love that moves the sun and other stars.’”

By Angela Mengis Palleck

He was only 15 years old when he died in a hospital in Monza, Italy, in 2006, offering all his sufferings for the Church and for the Pope.

Carlo Acutis, is being beatified on Saturday in Assisi. He was a normal, handsome and popular boy. A natural jokester who enjoyed making his classmates and teachers laugh. 

He loved playing soccer, video games, and had a sweet tooth. Carlo couldn’t say “no” to Nutella or to ice cream. Putting on weight made him understand the need for self control. It was one of the many struggles Carlo had to overcome – to learn how to master the art of self control, to master the virtue of temperance, starting by the simple things. He used to say, “What’s the use of winning 1,000 battles if you can’t beat your own passions?” 

“Being originals and not photocopies”

Carlo’s motto reflects the life of a normal teenager who strived to be the best version of himself, living the ordinary in an extraordinary way. He used his first savings to buy a sleeping bag for a homeless man he often saw on the way to Mass. He could have bought himself another video game for his game console collection. He loved to play video games. Instead, he chose to be generous. This was not an isolated instance. His funeral was packed with many of the city’s poor residents that Carlo had helped, demonstrating that the generosity he had extended to the homeless man on his way to Mass had been offered to many other people as well.

When he was gifted a diary, he decided to use it to track his progress: “good marks” if he behaved well and “bad marks” if he did not meet his expectations. This is how he tracked his progress. In that same notebook he jotted down, “Sadness is looking at oneself, happiness is looking at God. Conversion is nothing but a movement of the eyes”.

Natural jokester

He was a “natural jokester” as his mother, Antonia Salzano, once commented in an interview. His classmates would burst out in laughter at his remarks, and so would the teachers. Since he realized it could annoy and disrupt others, he made an effort to change in that regard as well. Making life pleasant for those around him through little acts was a constant in his life. He did not like the cleaning staff picking up after him, even if they were paid for that. So he set the alarm clock a few minutes earlier to tidy up his room and make the bed. Raejsh, a Hindu who cleaned at Carlo’s house, was impressed that someone “as handsome, young and rich” decided to live a simple life. “He captivated me with his deep faith, charity and purity,” he remarked. Through Carlo’s example, Raejsh decided to be baptized in the Catholic Church.

Cleanliness

Purity was very important in Carlo’s life. “Each person reflects the light of God”, was something he commonly said. It hurt him when his classmates did not live according to Christian morals. He would encourage them to do so, trying to help them understand that the human body is a gift from God and that sexuality had to be lived as God had intended. “The dignity of each human being was so great, that Carlo saw sexuality as something very special, as it was collaborating with God’s creation,” his mother recalled. 

Our new Blessed also enjoyed putting on his diving goggles and playing “fetch trash from the bottom of the sea”. When he took the dogs out for a walk, he always picked up whatever garbage he came across. It was his way of improving his corner of the world.

Passion for the Eucharist

Carlo’s true passion was the Eucharist: “his highway to heaven”. This led to his mother’s conversion. A woman who had only gone “three times to Mass in her life” was conquered in the end by the boy’s affection for Jesus. She enrolled herself in a theology course so she could answer all the questions of her young son.

At the age of 11, Carlo began to investigate the Eucharistic miracles that have occurred in history. He used all his computer knowledge and talents to create a website that traced that history. It comprises 160 panels and can be downloaded by clicking here and that have also made the rounds of more than 10,000 parishes in the world.

Carlo could not understand why stadiums were full of people and churches were empty. He would repeatedly say, “They have to see, they have to understand.”

Early Death

In Summer 2006, Carlo asked his mother: “Do you think I should become a priest?” She answered: “You will see it by yourself, God will reveal it to you.” At the beginning of that school year he did not feel well. It seemed like a normal flu. But when he didn’t get better, his parents took him to hospital. “I’m not getting out of here,” he said when he entered the building.

Shortly after, he was diagnosed with one of the worst types of leukemia – Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML or M3). His reaction was striking:

“I offer to the Lord the sufferings that I will have to undergo for the Pope and for the Church, so as not to have to be in Purgatory and be able to go directly to heaven.”

He died shortly after. 

“He is being a priest from heaven,” says his mother. 

Used with permission