The Secretariat of the State in the Ppost. Cost. Praedicate evangelium

Abstract

Pope Francis reforms, about structure and competence of the Secretariat of State, already begun however before the recent Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium and now completed, appear relevant. A first reform, implemented since 2015 with the creation of the Secretariat for Communication, entailed for the Secretariat of State the loss of competence to supervise the multimedia communication of the Holy See. An even more incisive reduction, than the competences of the Secretariat of State, was the transfer of Peter’s Pence, and other funds, to the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, which took place with the m.p. “A better organization (regarding certain competences in economic and financial matters)”, of December 28th, 2020. To these must be added now the new features envisaged by the PE. The transfer of the competences concerning the personnel of the whole Roman Curia from the First Section to the Secretariat for the Economy, is the most important among others, with the only exception for the highest figure appointments of the Curial Institutions (i.e. Prefects, Members, Secretaries, Under- Secretaries and Consultors). Therefore, after the diplomatic staff transfer from the First Section to the Third Section in 2017, also other responsibilities of one of the most relevant offices of the Section for General Affairs, i.e. the Personnel Office, have been assigned by the PE