The newest Pontifical Commission

During an audience granted to the undersigned Secretary of State on December 7, 2015, the Holy Father, Pope Francis learned the necessary information about particular difficulties being experienced by public juridical persons in the Church who are working in the health field, in order to contribute more effectively to the management of assets and the maintenance and promotion of the charisms of their Founders.  Until other arrangements can be made, His Holiness has mandated the Secretary of State to appoint a Special Commission which will be known as the Pontifical Commission for Activities within the Health Sector of public juridical persons within the Church.

The Cardinal Secretary of State, is therefore responsible for the establishment of the Pontifical Commission for Activities within the Health Sector of Public Juridical Persons within the Church, who will be governed by the following norms.

I.  The norms established in the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus and in the General Regulations of the Roman Curia will apply also to the aforesaid Commission as they are applicable and not inconsistent.  The Commission is furnished with its own Regulation.

II. The Commission will be composed of a President and six (6) experts in the disciplines of health, real estate, management, economics/administration and finance.  The Commission may delegate some of its functions to one or more members and will be assisted by a Secretariat.

III. With regard to the appointment and terms of the mandate for members and experts working with the Commission, the norms that regulate other Dicasteries of the Roman Curia will apply.

IV. The Commission, which will report directly to the Secretary of State, may carry out any juridical or financial act necessary for the valid and correct fulfillment of the task entrusted to it.

V.  The Commission grants to the Congregations of the Roman Curia, to which the public juridical persons concerned belong, the necessary concessions, binding for the granting of canonical authorizations for the sale or reorganization of assets and/or real estate related to the health field.  The Commission is equipped with powers of access to documents and resources for the accomplishment of its activities.  The Commission may assign tasks to companies, professionals and consultants.

VI. The Commission is entrusted with:

a) the general study of the sustainability of health systems of public juridical persons of the Church (assumptions, characteristics, constraints, operational/management models, relevance of objectives of health systems of individual juridical persons in keeping with their unique nature, mission and charism) in order to define a possible operative strategy over the long term and in relation to the principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church;

b) the proposal for the resolution of crisis situations according to the results of the more general study  and mobilizing all possible resources in collaboration with the managers of public juridical persons concerned;

c) the study of and proposal of new models of operation for public juridical persons working in the health field, in order to implement the original charism in the current context.

Provisions can be considered stable and valid from the moment of publication in L'Osservatore Romano.

From the Vatican
12 December 2015
Pietro Cardinal Parolin
Secretary of State