Vatican responds to crisis by clocking slackers
November 5, 2008
By Flavia Krause-Jackson
Rome - For the first time in almost half a century, Vatican administration staff will have to clock in for work as part of a clampdown on slackers, a sign that the global financial crisis has spread to the world's smallest independent state.
Pope John 23 put a stop to timekeeping in 1960, but from January 1, all Holy See employees will get magnetic badges and be forced to clock in and out in an effort to track their movements and ensure that they work a full day, according to a Vatican spokesperson.
The Holy See, the central administration for the Roman Catholic Church, had also devised an evaluation system to reward hard workers and punish slackers, said the spokesperson. According to the new report card, prolonged absences will result in pay cuts while virtuous employees can benefit from bonuses.
The push for more efficiency comes from the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, which was set up in 1967 by Pope Paul 6 to manage the property owned by the Holy See. It also administers the money received from the Italian government under the 1929 Lateran Treaties in compensation for land losses.
"The results from the first part of 2008 are worrying and don't inspire optimism," says a Vatican document published in September by UK Catholic weekly The Tablet.
Vincenzo Di Mauro, the secretary of the prefecture of economic affairs of the Holy See, declined to comment on the current state of the Vatican's finances.
The finances of the Holy See swung into a deficit last year because of "brusque and accentuated inversion of the currency markets, above all the American dollar", according to a statement posted on the Vatican website in July.
The combined surplus in the past three years was €15.2 million (R193 million at yesterday's exchange rate). The Holy See ran deficits for three years before that.
The Holy See has 2 748 employees, including priests and lay people, according to its annual financial statements.
Vatican employees earn salaries of between €1 300 and €2 300 each a month, according to La Stampa newspaper.
In addition to their direct salaries they enjoy perks such as duty-free petrol and subsidised housing.
November 5, 2008
By Flavia Krause-Jackson
Rome - For the first time in almost half a century, Vatican administration staff will have to clock in for work as part of a clampdown on slackers, a sign that the global financial crisis has spread to the world's smallest independent state.
Pope John 23 put a stop to timekeeping in 1960, but from January 1, all Holy See employees will get magnetic badges and be forced to clock in and out in an effort to track their movements and ensure that they work a full day, according to a Vatican spokesperson.
The Holy See, the central administration for the Roman Catholic Church, had also devised an evaluation system to reward hard workers and punish slackers, said the spokesperson. According to the new report card, prolonged absences will result in pay cuts while virtuous employees can benefit from bonuses.
The push for more efficiency comes from the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, which was set up in 1967 by Pope Paul 6 to manage the property owned by the Holy See. It also administers the money received from the Italian government under the 1929 Lateran Treaties in compensation for land losses.
"The results from the first part of 2008 are worrying and don't inspire optimism," says a Vatican document published in September by UK Catholic weekly The Tablet.
Vincenzo Di Mauro, the secretary of the prefecture of economic affairs of the Holy See, declined to comment on the current state of the Vatican's finances.
The finances of the Holy See swung into a deficit last year because of "brusque and accentuated inversion of the currency markets, above all the American dollar", according to a statement posted on the Vatican website in July.
The combined surplus in the past three years was €15.2 million (R193 million at yesterday's exchange rate). The Holy See ran deficits for three years before that.
The Holy See has 2 748 employees, including priests and lay people, according to its annual financial statements.
Vatican employees earn salaries of between €1 300 and €2 300 each a month, according to La Stampa newspaper.
In addition to their direct salaries they enjoy perks such as duty-free petrol and subsidised housing.
