Pope Leo XIV has approved changes to disciplinary procedures for employees of the Roman curia, the Vatican announced Friday.
The Holy See press office said Oct. 30 that Pope Leo XIV had approved three changes to the Regulations for the Staff of the Roman Curia during an Oct. 19 audience with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Vatican media presented the amendments as an effort to provide “clearer rules, more balanced procedures, and more effective safeguards” for Holy See employees.
Pope Leo XIV approved the amendments following an Oct. 5 audience with members of the Association of Vatican Lay Workers and the Women in the Vatican, though there is no indication of a causal connection.
In his address to the employee associations, founded respectively in 1979 and 2016, the pope called for a common effort to build “a working community where people are not exploited or sidelined, where we help one another, and where each person’s value and competence are recognized, thereby avoiding the generation of dissatisfaction and resentment.”
What’s the background? What’s changed? And what’s the wider context?
What’s the background?
The Roman curia, which consists of the Vatican Secretariat of State, dicasteries, tribunals, and other offices, has around 2,000 employees.
Their working lives are governed by the Regulations for the Staff of the Roman Curia, which came into force on Jan. 1, 2026, replacing the General Regulations of the Roman Curia issued in 1999.
The updated regulations reflected the sweeping changes to the curia introduced by Pope Francis in his 2022 apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium.
Curial employees are just one part of a wider Vatican workforce that extends to around 4,500 people. More than a thousand of them serve under the Vatican City State’s administration — working, for example, in the Vatican Museums.
What’s changed?
The latest amendments — published as an attachment to a Vatican document known as a rescript — relate to articles 62 § 3, 68 § 2, and 68 § 4 of the Regulations for the Staff of the Roman Curia, which are found in the document’s disciplinary norms section.
The first change adds one phrase to Art. 62 § 3, which previously said: “For the determination of the disciplinary sanctions referred to in § 2, b) and c), the Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia shall act, in accordance with its own Regulations.”
The new version says: “For the determination of the disciplinary sanctions referred to in § 2, b) and c), the Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia shall act, except in the case of suspension of up to a maximum of 30 days (cf. Art. 64 § 2), in accordance with its own regulations.”
Vatican News explained that the amendment clarifies that suspensions of up to 30 days can be approved by the Head of Office (Capo Ente), while longer suspensions can only be imposed by the Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia.
“This is more than just a formal clarification; clearly defining respective areas of authority helps to avoid overlapping responsibilities and potential disputes over interpretation,” it commented.
The second change adds a second sentence at the end of the first paragraph of Art. 68 § 2, which previously said: “The procedure for the application of the disciplinary sanctions referred to in Art. 62 § 2 is initiated by the Head of Office by notifying the person concerned of the failures of which he is accused and by allowing 10 days for him to submit his justifications.”
The added paragraph says: “If the Head of Office considers the alleged facts to be punishable by suspension of more than 30 days or by dismissal, 15 days are allowed for the person concerned to submit his justifications, and he may, if he wishes, also avail himself of a lawyer chosen from among the members of the Corps of Lawyers of the Holy See or from the Register of Lawyers of the Roman Curia.”
Vatican News said this change addressed an inconsistency in which curial employees might be given 10 days by their Head of Office to submit their defense, while the Disciplinary Commission allowed 15 days.
“This discrepancy created practical difficulties and, in some instances, even led to the nullification of proceedings due to the infringement of the right to a defense,” it noted.
The amendment brings the Regulations for the Staff of the Roman Curia into line with the Disciplinary Commission’s regulations. It also stresses the right to access legal help in more serious disciplinary cases.
The third change makes two additions to Art. 68 § 4, which previously said: “If the Head of Office considers that suspension or dismissal should be applied, he transmits the file to the Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia, informing the person concerned.”
The new text reads: “If the Head of Office considers that suspension of more than 30 days or dismissal should be applied, he transmits the file to the Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia, informing the person concerned of the measure adopted and of the possibility of being assisted by his own lawyer from among those indicated in § 2.”
The change means that a curial employee facing a suspension of more than 30 days or dismissal must be informed, at the moment their case is sent to the Disciplinary Commission, of the proposed measure and of the possibility of legal assistance.
The amendments came into force with their Oct. 30 publication in L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican City’s daily newspaper.
What’s the context?
Vatican News argued that, taken together, the changes underlined the Holy See’s desire “to reconcile the demands of organizational structure and institutional accountability with the principles that inform the Church’s social doctrine.”
“In this context, the protection of the worker is not merely an ancillary aspect of administrative organization, but a concrete expression of the recognition of human dignity,” it said.
“It is an approach rooted in the magisterium of Pope Leo XIV, who, in the encyclical Magnifica humanitas, highlights the infinite and inalienable dignity of every human being, regardless of the circumstances or conditions in which they may find themselves.”
Pope Leo XIV has taken several steps to address the welfare of Vatican employees since he was elected pope in May 2025, adopting the name most closely associated with Leo XIII, who brought Catholic social teaching into the modern age with his 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum.
Leo XIV approved expanded family benefits for Vatican employees in July 2025.
He authorized the publication of revised statutes for the Labor Office of the Apostolic See, the body responsible for employment issues at the Holy See, in December 2025.
In September 2026, he repealed salary reductions for cardinals and senior Vatican officials introduced by Pope Francis to address financial problems created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In recent years, the Association of Vatican Lay Workers has become increasingly critical of the treatment of its members. In January 2026, it published the results of a survey that found 75.9% felt that employees were not sufficiently valued or motivated, while 56% said they had faced injustices or mistreatment by a superior.
It was significant, therefore, that Leo XIV met publicly with the association’s representatives in October 2026. According to the Zenit news agency, the meeting was unprecedented.
The changes to disciplinary procedures for curial employees appear to be part of a concerted effort by Pope Leo to make the Holy See a fairer and more humane place for its workers. The pattern of interventions suggests that these are not token gestures, but reflect priorities that lie close to the heart of Leo XIV’s pontificate.