Rome: The Pious Establishments of France in the Storm

“The church of Saint-Louis des Français is under construction, and most of its treasures are not visible. For the moment, only the nave is accessible. The side aisles and the ten side chapels are hidden from the public by tarpaulins and scaffolding, notably concealing the priceless Cycle of Saint Matthew, by Caravaggio, in front of which hundreds of thousands of curious people marvel each year.

Decided a few months ago, the work should be completed by the beginning of December. The objective: to renovate the entire outdated electrical installation as well as the church’s lighting, while protecting the whole thing from the risk of fire.” This sad observation is from Jérôme Gautheret, special correspondent of Le Monde in Rome, on September 12, 2024.

The report submitted on September 3 by the magistrates of the Cour des Comptes deplores the “numerous and obvious deficiencies” in the “approximate” management of French religious heritage in Rome, heritage that is nevertheless “of considerable value.” The French magistrates’ incriminating facts cover the period from 2015 to 2022.

Concerning real estate properties, the report regrets that they have not been evaluated “with precision”: “no estimate of the value of the works has been made,” particularly of the famous paintings by Caravaggio, which could be worth several hundred million euros! The Cour des Comptes also points out “risks of dispossession which have, for some, already become a reality.”

The situation is not any brighter for the properties themselves, appraised at 213 million euros, which generate a revenue of 4.6 million euros: the report denounces an “opaque policy of allocation and fixing of rents” for the 148 apartments and 31 shops located in residential areas of Rome, with “poorly justified advantages granted to many tenants.”

What the magistrates consider to be a “lack of professionalism” would deprive the Pious Establishments of “nearly 50%” of the revenue that should be theirs. The magistrates also mention the “significant deviations” in work that was carried out without calls for a preliminary offer, “with the risk of significant overcharging” on the part of the companies that were appointed.

The French government is not blameless for this laxity: “Informed of these deviations a long time ago, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has not taken the necessary measures,” the report adds. “There is responsibility on the part of the ambassadors and the State,” and the latter “must without delay put an end to the errors observed,” the auditors conclude.

More seriously, according to Le Monde, the authors of the report “reveal the existence, until 2018, of a ‘slush fund’, in the form of an account at the Istituto per le Opere di Religione, the much-discussed ‘Vatican Bank’, the origin of which is unclear.”

The Pious Establishments

The institution called the Pious Establishments traces its origin to the pious foundations instituted by the French in Rome and Loreto in the Middle Ages. In the Carolingian era, the first communities composed of French people were formed in the Eternal City. These fraternities were attached to a church and had premises capable of accommodating passing pilgrims.

During the revolutionary upheaval, Pope Pius VI, by a papal brief in 1793, united the various foundations under the authority of Cardinal François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, former ambassador of the Kingdom of France to the Holy See for 25 years, granting him the title of “Apostolic Visitor of all establishments in Rome an in the ecclesiastical State.”

In 1801, Napoleon Bonaparte succeeded in getting them placed under the authority of the Ambassador of France. After the fall of the Papal States in 1870, the new masters of Italy did not touch this status: it was not until 1940 and Italy’s entry into war against France that they were placed under sequestration. This situation ended in 1943, thanks to the intervention of the Holy See.

In 1956, Wladimir d’Ormesson, ambassador to the Holy See, established the regulations approved by a papal brief of Pius XII on September 8 of the same year. If the ambassador assures the guardianship of the Pious Establishments, their management is entrusted to an administrator (a religious) and a treasurer (a layperson), assisted by a “congregation,” itself composed of an equal number of laity and religious members.

This is an operation which seems to have shown its limits before spiraling out of control over the years: the Cour des Comptes points out the “repeated refusal of the administrator and the treasurer in office at the start of the audit to answer the Court’s questions.”

It seems likely that the report, made public by the press, will allow people to be a little more concerned about the Pious Establishments and to take the bull by the horns in order to rectify the situation: this religious heritage is both a cultural asset and above all a spiritual treasure where the faithful in general, and the French faithful in particular, will find better than bread and circuses.