Vatican keeping tabs on its employees

All employees of the Vatican State, clergy and laity, will have to clock-in much like industrial workers throughout the world as of January 2009. This will be the first time that employees of the Vatican will do so since the 1960s, when it was abolished by Pope John XXII. Some clerics are apparently complaining that clocking in and out is an obstacle to their twice-weekly off-site pastoral duties. It was the same John XXII, the “good pope”, who once famously quipped when asked how many people worked at the Vatican “about half.”

Employees will use swipe cards to mark their hours on duty in a move that is seen as promoting meritocracy at the headquarters of the Catholic Church. These same swipe cards are used by employees to access health care, automatic tellers of the Vatican Bank, cafeterias and fueling stations of the tiny independent state. The use of the swipe card for marking time has been gradually extended throughout the Vatican State. The reform is attributed to the oversight of current Secretary of State, the Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

According to Italian daily La Reppublica, some 2,748 persons currently work at the Vatican: 1,212 men and 425 mujeres, 778 priests, 243 monks and 90 nuns, for whom are paid approximately 80 million euros per year.