Council for the Economy meeting focuses on 2021 budget

By Vatican News staff writer

The Vatican’s Council for the Economy, on Tuesday afternoon, held a virtual meeting focused on discussing the Holy See’s annual budget for this year, 2021.

A statement from the Holy See Press Office indicated that participants at the online meeting included the Council’s President, Cardinal Reinhard Marx; the Secretary, Monsignor Brian Edwin Ferme; and the majority of the members of the Council. Other participants were Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, archbishop of Durban, South Africa; Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, archbishop of São Paolo; Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, archbishop of Québec; Cardinal Joseph William Tobin, archbishop of Newark, USA; Cardinal Anders Arborelius, archbishop of Stockholm; and Cardinal Guiseppe Petrocchi, archbishop of L’Aquila, Italy. With them were Prof. Charlotte Kreuter-Kirchhof, Dr. Eva Castillo Sanz, Dr. Leslie Jane Ferrar, Dr. Alberto Minali, Dr. María Concepción Osákar Garaicoechea, and Hon. Ruth Kelly, each connected by their country of residence.

Also present from the Vatican were Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, Fr. Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, as well as Drs. Maximino Caballero Ledo and Emilio Ferrara, the Secretary-General and Director of the Administrative Section of the Secretariat for the Economy respectively.

The budget was presented in detail by Dr. Caballero Ledo, followed by observations from Dr. Ferrar on behalf of the Audit Committee. Subsequently, Dr. Ferrara presented some principles for the application of the two points of the Motu proprio issued on 28 December 2020, A better organization concerning the approval of budgets and financial statements and the appointment of official auditors. The meeting also discussed the statutes of the Audit Committee.

The online meeting ended at 18:00, with the next meeting scheduled to take place in April 2021.