International Workshop: Transparency and Accountability in the Catholic Church: A Practical Journey
Rome, June 17-21 2024
Organizer:
• "Market, Culture, Ethics" Research Center, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, Italy;
In collaboration with:
• John A. Ryan Institute, University of St. Thomas, USA;
• St Mary's University Twickenham London, UK
• Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, Italy
From June 17 to 21, 2024, a total of 31 Church leaders (1 Cardinal, 4 Archbishops, 10 bishops, and 16 clerical and lay diocesan leaders) gathered at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome to reflect on financial transparency and accountability in the Catholic Church. The participants came from Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Malawi, India, Philippines, Haiti, Spain, U.K. Thanks to the generosity of the Global Institute of Church Management (GICM) and other donors we were able to grant travel subsidies to those in need.
The workshop was a transformative journey that resulted in the draft of an action plan that each participant will take forward with his leadership team at home. The facilitators were professors at the Pontifical Universities Santa Croce and Gregoriana, as well as from the Catholic University of St. Thomas (Minnesota, USA) and St. Mary’s (Twickenham, London). The subjects covered were the ethical and cultural aspects of transparency, financial planning and reporting, team building on the board level, and crisis management.
An important impulse was the encounter in the Vatican with Pope Francis at the General Audience on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 and with the three figure heads of the financial reform in the Vatican, Sr. Raffaella Petrini (Secretary General of the Vatican City State), Dr. Giuseppe Schlitzer (ASIF), Dr. Maximino Caballero Ledo (SPE). All three insisted on the importance of transparency notwithstanding the cultural differences and obstacles. The challenge consists in finding the right ways and modes of implementation in the local forms and circumstances.
All participants agreed on the need for a change of mindset toward greater transparency. The young generation of Catholics, most of who are digital natives, increasingly demand such a change.
