Work conducted with the utmost transparency. This is what characterizes, especially in recent years since the reform initiated by Pope Francis, the daily operations of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, the body responsible for managing the Holy See’s assets. The president is the Salesian Monsignor Giordano Piccinotti, and the secretary is Fabio Gasperini.

Historical notes

In 1878, Pope Leo XIII appointed Cardinal Nina, his Secretary of State, Prefect of the Sacred Palaces and administrator of the patrimony remaining to the Holy See after 1870. In 1880, by a  Motu Proprio , modified in 1883, he appointed a Commission of Cardinals to oversee, with consultative authority, the administration of Pence and the patrimony of the Holy See. And with another  Motu Proprio  of April 30, 1891, Leo XIII entrusted this Commission with the direct administration of the patrimony of the Holy See, with the mandate to extend its oversight to all other branches and economic matters related to it. Pius XI, by a  Motu Proprio  of December 1926, arranged for the merger of the administrative offices of the Prefecture and the Section of Ecclesiastical Dicasteries with the General Administration of the Goods of the Holy See.

The Dicastery was thus constituted by two Sections, coordinated respectively by two delegates: the Ordinary Section, which carried out the tasks previously reserved to the Administration of the Goods of the Holy See, and the Extraordinary Section, constituted by Pius XI through a  Motu Proprio  of June 1929 in order to manage the funds paid by the Italian Government to the Holy See in execution of the financial Convention annexed to the Lateran Treaty of February 11, 1929, with the charge of dedicating itself to the tasks previously carried out by the Special Administration of the Holy See.

The Apsa was established by Paul VI through the Apostolic Constitution  Regimini Ecclesiae Universae  of August 15, 1967, with the task of administering the property owned by the Holy See and those entrusted to it by other bodies of the Holy See, intended to provide the necessary funds for the fulfillment of the functions of the Roman Curia.

By means of a  Motu Proprio  of July 8, 2014, Pope Francis established that the new Secretariat for the Economy should assume among its institutional functions those attributed to the so-called “Ordinary Section” of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See and, therefore, transfer to the Dicastery the powers that the apostolic constitution  Pastor Bonus  of June 1988 had entrusted to the Ordinary Section.

Currently, the allocation of powers and offices of the Apsa is regulated by the  Motu Proprio  I beni temporali , of July 4, 2016, which emphasizes the division of powers between the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See and the Secretariat for the Economy: the former is responsible for the administration of the assets and financial management, while the latter is responsible for the control and supervision of the administration and management activity.

By means of a rescript of May 2020, the Pope arranged for the responsibility of the Data Processing Center (CPD) to be transferred from Apsa to the Secretariat for the Economy, to ensure  a more rational organization of the economic and financial information of the Holy See and to computerize the underlying models and procedures, in order to ensure the simplification of activities and the effectiveness of controls .

Finally, with the  Motu Proprio  Circa alcune competenze in materia economico-finanziaria , of December 2020, Francis entrusted Apsa with the administration and management of the financial investments and real estate owned by the Secretariat of State.

Skills

As established by the Apostolic Constitution  Praedicate Evangelium  of 2022, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (Apsa) is the body responsible for the administration and management of the real estate and movable property of the Holy See, intended to provide the necessary resources for the fulfillment of the function proper to the Roman Curia for the good and service of the particular Churches.

Apsa is responsible for managing the real estate and movable property of the organizations that have entrusted their assets to the Holy See, respecting the specific purpose for which said property was established. Financial operations are carried out through the instrumental activities of the Institute for the Works of Religion.

The APSA provides for the ordinary activities of the Roman Curia, handling treasury, accounting, purchasing, and other services. It can also provide these same services to institutions linked to the Holy See, should they request it or if so directed. The APSA’s internal organization is divided into three functional areas, responsible for real estate management, financial affairs, and services.

(Translation made while maintaining fidelity to the original text published in  Vatican News  )

1. State Secretariat
2. Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
3. Dicastery for Bishops
4. Dicastery for the Clergy
5. Dicastery for the Service of Charity
6. Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
7. Dicastery for the Causes of Saints
8. The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity
9. Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue
10. Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
11. Dicastery for Communication
12. Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life
13. Dicastery for the Oriental Churches
14. Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
15. Dicastery for Evangelization
16. Dicastery for Culture and Education
17. The Apostolic Library and the Apostolic Archive
18. Dicastery for Legislative Texts
19. Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See