The Vatican has announced the most far-reaching overhaul of its internal administration in a quarter of a century, with Pope Leo XIV approving two major regulatory texts that will reshape daily life inside the Holy See.
Signed on the Feast of Christ the King and published on 24 November, the new Regulation of the Roman Curia and the corresponding Regulation of Personnel set out a five-year ad experimentum framework intended to bring order, consistency and modern management to an institution long governed as much by custom as by law.
Among the most striking changes is the disappearance of the old requirement that curial acts be drafted “as a rule” in Latin. Vatican officials privately acknowledge that, with Italian, English, French and other modern languages now permitted for normal use, this will in practice mean the abandonment of Latin. Article 50 states that while “the curial institutions will normally draft their acts in Latin or in another language”, care will be taken to ensure that major documents intended for publication are translated into the most widely used languages.
Under the reforms, all acts intended for the Pope must be channelled through the Secretariat of State, and documents of broader significance must be shared across relevant institutions before publication. Interdicasterial meetings are now governed by mandatory procedures and scheduled collaboration. Officials interpret these moves as an attempt to restore coherence and accountability after years of overlapping jurisdictions and divergent administrative practices.
Another innovation directly concerns the Church’s faithful. For the first time, the regulations stipulate that dicasteries must “examine and, if necessary, adjudicate on matters that the faithful, exercising their right, directly refer to the Holy See”. In such cases, the local ordinary and the pontifical representative are to be consulted confidentially. In practical terms, this grants Catholics a right not to be ignored by Vatican departments and places a significant burden on officials who, until now, could decline to respond to sensitive or complex matters such as the Traditional Latin Mass.
Equally significant is the requirement that decisions affecting dioceses, religious institutes or movements must be preceded by consultation with their superiors. This appears to address past controversies in which bishops or religious superiors were disciplined, replaced or overruled without being heard, sometimes on the basis of incomplete or misleading reports. The regulations instruct Vatican officials to consult those concerned before taking action, restoring a degree of procedural fairness long criticised as inconsistent.
Digitalisation receives unprecedented emphasis. For the first time, Vatican offices will be required to use certified IT systems, digital archives, controlled destruction protocols and access logs. “The institutions acquire the IT systems necessary to carry out their work in accordance with procurement regulations,” the text states, subject to technical validation by the Secretariat for the Economy.
Alongside structural reforms, the new Personnel Regulation imposes more demanding expectations on the Vatican workforce. Staff are required to maintain “exemplary religious and moral conduct, including in their private and family lives, in accordance with the doctrine of the Church,” reflecting the long-standing view that service in the Curia is a form of ecclesial mission.
Employment rules have also been codified, including a six-day working week, fixed hours, 26 days of annual leave, limits on part-time work and strict bans on hiring relatives within the same office. Sick leave will be more closely monitored, and new evaluation systems will link responsibilities to measurable standards.
The regulatory texts seek to impose uniformity across the system, from drafting procedures and cooperation between dicasteries to personnel discipline. Some inside the Vatican see the reforms as a welcome return to clarity; others fear that increased centralisation may burden officials and concentrate too much authority in the Secretariat of State.
Few dispute, however, that the Curia now enters a markedly new phase.
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