Transparentność, programowalność i sprawozdawczość ekonomiczna Instytutów Zakonnych

Canon law regulates issues, including the ones regarding poverty in religious institutes. As initially, also today, people and communities of consecrated life embrace the „poor lifestyle”. To follow this lifestyle, in today’s administration of material goods, among others, words such as transparency, programmability, reporting are becoming the necessary benchmarks. The study discusses these three areas based on canon law and the document Economia a servizio del carisma e della missione. The current thought of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church emphasizes the feature of transparency in the administration of religious goods, i.e., transparency in management at every stage, every activity or office. In this way, the activities of the institutes refute various accusations of persons and environments hostile to the Church. At the same time, administrative clarity makes more effective fundraising possible. Donors are more willing to donate their goods for religious purposes when they know these purposes and are sure that their funds will be well spent. Economical management requires programming or planning, both in the shorter time perspective (budget) and from the perspective of long-term plans. This, in turn, requires initiating design thinking. So that economic activities are not just some spontaneous reaction to the situations but reflect intelligent behaviour. At the same time, following prudence and plans does not exclude an element of God’s providence. Economic programming often requires obtaining various permits, as indicated by canon law and recent documents of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Competent persons and bodies must also supervise administrative decisions at religious institutes. Even the best plans will not become effective if one does not have adequate control. In programming, one cannot forget that individual religious structures are part of a larger whole, as an institute, but also a local and universal Church. Programming and reporting significantly combine and make the administration of religious goods transparent, inside and outside the institute. Consecrated persons in carrying out such complex tasks should also use new IT tools. Modern circulation of information, merging, and processing of economic data is no longer possible without modern computer software. The Church’s thought reminds us that the field of economics is a tool and that money is to serve, not rule, and it is subordinated to the religious mission and charism. In this way, the lives of consecrated people bear witness to Christ and the Church and to the faith that does not put material goods first. This witness indicates that, above all, God is the real wealth of human life.