Jorge Mario Bergoglio – also known as Pope Francis – has called for a review of the Vatican’s pension system with a view to improving the financial sustainability of the state’s pension scheme.
“Urgent structural measures are needed, which can no longer be postponed, to achieve the [financial] sustainability of the pension fund, in the more general context of the limited resources available to the entire organisation,” the Pope wrote in a letter to the College of Cardinals and to the heads of Curial Institutions.
Structural reforms are necessary to guarantee appropriate pension coverage for present and future employees, Pope Francis added.
This means “taking difficult decisions which will require particular sensitivity, generosity and willingness to sacrifice on the part of everyone”, he continued.
The management of the Vatican’s pension fund is one of the main topics of the state’s economic reform targeting a “zero deficit”, and one of the main “concerns” for the Pontiffs in the past, Francis wrote.
In-depth analyses conducted by independent experts on behalf of the Vatican forecast a “serious imbalance” between income and expenses of the pension fund, he noted, adding: “This means that the current system is not able to guarantee in the medium term the fulfilment of pension obligations for future generations.”
The Pope has therefore appointed Cardinal Kevin Farrell a sole administrator of the pension fund to respond to the challenges that the Vatican’s pension system will face in the future.
The association representing retirees and employees in the Vatican – Associazione Dipendenti Laici Vaticani (ADLV) – has voiced its view against the pension reform, demanding transparency of the pension fund’s financial statements, which are not publicly disclosed.
“It is clear that there is someone who has proposed this type [of reform] to the Pope, given that the Pontiffs certainly cannot know the details of the pension fund’s [financial[ statement,” ADLV stated.
The association is demanding full disclosure of the Vativan pension scheme’s financial statements, given that its members contribute to the scheme.
“We should understand how employees’ payroll deductions are managed. Pensions are also above all a guarantee for future generations, a matter of fairness and justice. Who certifies any liabilities?” the association asked.
ADLV has demanded to meet with the Economy Secretariat, a body exercising supervision over economic and financial matters in the Vatican, to discuss the state’s budget and the financial situation of “exhausted” employees, it said.
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