Pope Francis has selected a new head for the Vatican Financial Authority but his identity won’t be announced until the Pope returns from his apostolic journey to Thailand and Japan on November 26.
The Holy Father thanked René Brüelhart for his service in recent years. The current President of the Vatican Financial Authority (AIF) is ending his term in office, Vatican News reported November 18, 2019.
A communiqué released on Monday by the Holy See Press Office also said the Pope has proceeded to appoint a successor to Brüelhart, “identifying a figure of high professional profile and accredited competence at the international level”.
The Financial Information Authority is the competent authority of the Holy See/Vatican City State for fighting money-laundering and financing of terrorism. In that capacity, the AIF carries out the tasks of financial intelligence unit and supervisor.
The new appointment will be announced and will be effective, on November 26, upon the return of the Holy Father from his Apostolic Journey to Thailand and Japan on November 26.
This, the communiqué notes, will ensure the continuity of FIA’s institutional action at a time of particular internal and international commitments.
Answering questions put to him by journalists, Matteo Bruni, the Director of the Press Office, said that in regards to the announced appointment of the new AIF President, the deferral of his appointment was made necessary in order to allow «the interested party to respect previous institutional commitments, and for the definition of some internal procedures of the Holy See».
