“The deficiencies are numerous and obvious” in the management of this heritage “of considerable value” by the administration of the “Pious Establishments”, deplores the report released this Monday.
Management “approximate”decisions “opaque” even “drifts”… in a severe report, the Court of Auditors on Monday criticized the administration of “Pious establishments”which manage an exceptional French real estate and spiritual heritage in Rome. Placed under the authority of the French Embassy, the “Pious establishments of France in Rome and Loreto” -often called “the Pious” – manage in particular thirteen rental properties located in the historic centre of Rome as well as five churches, including the famous Trinità dei Monti and Saint-Louis des Français which houses three world-famous paintings by Caravaggio.
Or “The deficiencies are numerous and obvious” in the management of this heritage “of considerable value”deplores the report which covers the period 2015-2022. Firstly because this heritage “is not known precisely”: neither the churches nor even the collections are entered in the accounting balance sheet and “no estimate of the value of these works has been made”. These gaps lead to “risks of dispossession which have, for some, already materialized”the report states.
“An opaque policy of rent allocation”
On the property portfolio, the Court highlights a “opaque policy of allocating and fixing rents” of 148 apartments and 31 stores, on average “below the low range” in these sought-after neighborhoods, and with “unjustified advantages granted to many tenants”The Court also deplores the management «extracomptable» of certain bank accounts with “many cash payments”sometimes for remuneration, rent, reimbursement of expenses, etc.
Added to this is “failing cooperation with the Ministry of Culture”. Its fire prevention recommendations were not followed, and it exists in churches “a proven risk to the safety of property and people”according to the Court. Another problem: “significant drifts” on the works, carried out without publicity of calls for tender, entrusted to a small number of companies, “with the risk of significant overcharging”The Court emphasizes a “long-held ambiguity” on the status of the Pious who “has fueled the excesses”even if in his eyes the French ownership of the heritage “was recently confirmed” by several Italian judgments.
Considering that “the responsibility of ambassadors and the State is engaged” and that the latter “must immediately put an end to the errors observed”the Court states that the legal framework “must absolutely evolve” and discusses the creation of a financially independent establishment or a public establishment.
