The text, entitled "A better organization," also set out new regulations for the oversight of Peter's Pence, an annual worldwide collection supporting the pope's mission.
Vatican officials have been forced to deny that money raised for Peter's Pence was used to cover losses on a controversial London property deal overseen by the Secretariat of State.
The document, signed Dec. 26 and coming into force before the start of the Vatican's new fiscal year, contains four articles. The first concerns the transfer of investments and liquidity from the Secretariat of State to APSA. The second regulates the management of papal funds. The third sets out "provisions on economic and financial monitoring and supervision" and the fourth addresses the functioning of the Secretariat of State's administrative office.
Under the new law, APSA will gain ownership of funds, bank accounts, and investments, including real estate, previously administered by the Secretariat of State from Jan. 1, 2021.
APSA's management of its new responsibilities will be subject to "ad hoc control" by the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy, established in 2014 to oversee the financial activities of the Holy See and Vatican City State. The Secretariat for the Economy will in future also serve as the Papal Secretariat for Economic and Financial Matters.
The law requires the Secretariat of State to "transfer as soon as possible, and no later than Feb. 4, 2021," all of its liquid assets held in current accounts at the Institute for the Works of Religion, commonly known as the "Vatican bank," and foreign banks.