So, a papal Motu Proprio need not always deal with Church matters. It can be as mundane as this:
With a Motu proprio,
Pope reforms labor practices
in Vatican city state
VATICAN CITY, August 9 (Translated from Apcom) - Incentives for motherhood and for families with many children, as well as equal treatment for men and women who reach retirement age (raised from 65 to 67) are among the novelties in the Vatican's new 'labor rights'.
After long preparation by Vatican officials, Pope Benedict XVI signed last July 7 a Motu proprio ('Venti anni orsono' - Twenty years ago) in which he also reforms the Vatican labor office (known by its Italian acronym ULSA).
The document has been distributed to the 4,600 citizen-residents of Vatican city state - includes ecclesiastics, religious and laymen.
The tribunal once charged with ruling on disputes between administration and personnel - which have dramatically diminished over the years - has been converted to an office to "promote and consolidate the working community in teh Holy See".
"The new Vatican standards go even beyond aligning for the most part with recent labor initiatives adopted in Italy - from a bonus for every child born to an upward revision of benefits for nuclear families, especially those with many children, with lower incomes or with handicapped members, as well as bonuses for day care centers and allowances to purchase schoolbooks," said ULSA director Massimo Bufacchi in an interview with
L'Osservatore Romano.
"For example, in providing for parenthood incentives, it would grant special funds for those who may need to go to a foreign country to adopt a child," he said.
The Vatican has no day care centers to help its working mothers, but Bufacchi explains that "Our working mothers have been able to make day care arrangements with their own families or other convenient places near their home, but now, the new rules will give them a bonus for this benefit." (Only 19% of Vatican employees are female.)
As for older employees, there has never been a gender difference in the retirement age for Vatican personnel, but from 2010 onwards, new employees will be eligible to retire at 67 not at 65."
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 09/08/2009 20:17]