New appointments for Healthcare Commission

By Vatican News

Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has appointed new members to the “Pontifical Commission for activities of the health sector of the public legal persons of the Church” for the three-year period from June 2020 - June 2023.

The Commission was created by Pope Francis in 2015 to help health care organizations belonging to the Church and to Church organizations to manage their finances and stay true to their founding mission and spirit.

It has the mandate to carry out general studies to ascertain the sustainability of the healthcare systems of the juridical persons of the Church, and to prepare long-range operational sustainability strategies in keeping with the Social Doctrine of the Church. 

New Members

Monsignor Luigi Mistò, president of the Health Care Fund (FAS) of the Holy See, is confirmed as President of the Pontifical Commission.

The following have been appointed as members of the Commission: Reverend Segundo Tejado Muñoz, under-secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; Professor Renato Balduzzi, full professor of constitutional law at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan; Professor Giovanni Barbara, professor of commercial law, attorney; Professor Saverio Capolupo, tax magistrate; Dr. Fabrizio Celani, national President of the Catholic Association of Healthcare Workers; Dr. Maurizio Gallo, entrepreneur in the consulting and institutional relations sector.

Reverend Don Marco Belladelli, ecclesiastical assistant of the Catholic Union of Italian Pharmacists, was appointed as director of the Commission Office, with the right to participate, with voice and vote, in the activities of the Commission. Sister Annunziata Remossi, O.M.V.F., official of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, was confirmed as Secretary of the Commission.

A statement from the Holy See Press Office notes that “the Commission may avail itself of occasional or permanent advice from technicians and managers in the sector, bearing in mind previous experiences; delegate part of its functions to one or more members; and create Sub-Commissions.”

Greetings to the outgoing Commission

Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin expressed his deep gratitude to the outgoing members of the Commission for their service, which he said, was carried out with competence and generous availability. He also outlined indications and suggestions for starting a new phase of the activity of the Pontifical Commission, so that it may be more and more authoritatively and effectively at the service of the world of Catholic healthcare and carry out those tasks which the Pope Francis has entrusted to it. In light of the current healthcare emergency, underlined Cardinal Parolin, these are tasks that have lost none of their relevance and urgency.