Decree on the Full Legal Representation of the II Section of the Dicastery for Evangelization (1 August 2022)

Author: Pope Francis

Decree of Pope Francis regarding the full legal representation of the II Section of the Dicastery for Evangelization. The Decree, signed by Pope Francis on Monday 1 August 2022, was published in the Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 17 March 2023.


FRANCIS

Given

the preceding Chirograph by which my Venerable Predecessor, Pope Saint Paul VI, adhering to the proposal of the then Cardinal Prefect and in view of the multiplicity and complexity of the tasks entrusted to the Dicastery, decreed the full and absolute legal representation, in the person of the same Prefect pro tempore, of the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples or “de Propaganda Fide” for all economic and administrative affairs concerning it, for the normal conduct of temporal affairs and in relations with third parties;

considering

the need to fully implement the new Apostolic Constitution “Praedicate Evangelium”, which provides that, notwithstanding the obligation to render due account to the Secretariat for the Economy, the patrimony destined for the missions is administered via a special Office of the Dicastery for Evangelization, previously named “Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples” (former “Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples or de Propaganda Fide”), with headquarters in Rome, Piazza di Spagna no.48, and by virtue of the same Apostolic Constitution, composed of two sections: one for fundamental issues of evangelization in the world and one for first evangelization and the new particular Churches, each one governed in the name and by my authority by a Pro-Prefect;

adhering

to what has been set forth by the Pro-Prefect, who on the basis of the experience attained in the conduct of the administrative and economic affairs of the Dicastery, also in order to facilitate the transition from the name “Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples” to the new name “Dicastery for Evangelization” in all existing administrative, economic, negotiation and successor relationships to ensure its continuation, and in those which are to be and shall be constituted with regard to the aforementioned Section of the Dicastery, deems it opportune to establish that full legal representation for the temporal affairs and in relationships with third parties shall be vested in the Pro-Prefect of the Section for first evangelization and the new particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization;

adhering to this proposal, I order and decree

that the full legal representation of the Dicastery for Evangelization – II Section (formerly “Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples” and “Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples or de Propaganda Fide”), for all the economic, administrative, negotiation and successor affairs that relate to it be attributed to the Pro-Prefect pro tempore of the Section for first evangelization and the new particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization, with full powers and faculties of law;

I further order and decree

that such representation be confirmed and extended also in relation to the patrimony destined for the missions referable to the Administrations entrusted to or dependent on the Section for first evangelization and the new particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization, such as the Pontifical Mission Societies and the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Pontifical Society of Saint Peter the Apostle, the Pontifical Society of the Missionary Childhood and the Pontifical Missionary Union, the Pontifical Urbaniana University, the “Domus Missionalis” foundation and the “Domus Urbaniana” foundation;

I furthermore confer

to the same Pro-Prefect pro tempore, the faculty to grant proxies and powers of attorney, both jointly and severally, to the Superiors pro tempore of the Section and to trusted persons, with regard to certain categories or individual affairs, with the faculty of the same to appoint substitutes in their turn for the conduct of certain affairs which are the object of the proxy.

All this I have ordered and order in implementation of the regulations in force.

From the Vatican, 1 August 2022
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Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 17 March 2023 

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