Stricter law heralds scrutiny on Church’s donation baskets

The Church’s missionary organisation has agreed to start publicly auditing its finances, following a proposed new law to regulate NGOs.

A Curia spokesperson confirmed with MaltaToday that Missio Malta – which collected over €1 million in donations last year – is in the process of registering itself as a voluntary organisation.

Church organisations have traditionally been exempted from registering with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations, which requires NGOs to submit to financial scrutiny, depending on their income. However, a recent White Paper has proposed that organisations will not be allowed to fundraise or receive state funding unless they enroll with the Commissioner. Since Missio earns more than €200,000 a year, it will be subjected to an annual audit. 

“There is a fatal problem in the current law, in that it allows non-registered NGOs to benefit from state funding through ministerial exemptions,” voluntary organisations commissioner Kenneth Wain told MaltaToday. “Such exemptions eventually became the norm, creating a non-level playing field for NGOs.”

Wain is optimistic that the amendments will pass into law before the end of the year, and said that a number of Church organisations besides Missio have already started the process of registering themselves. 

When asked by MaltaToday whether the Church currently keeps financial accounts that detail on what Missio spends the money they collected, a spokesperson responded with a breakdown of the €1,072,696 in collected funds that Missio will distribute to mission countries this summer. 

The majority, €613,683, will be sent to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, that provides assistance for priests and nuns in bishop areas, while €260,972 will be sent to the Society of St Peter the Apostle, the Catholic Church’s fundraising body for the training of clergy in mission dioceses. €198,041 was collected through donations by Maltese children, towards the Holy Childhood Association that provides aid to children in impoverished countries. 

However, Missio director Mgr. Salvino Micallef confirmed with MaltaToday that it sends 85% of the total funds collected to the missions, and no details were provided by the Curia on what the remaining 15% (€189,299) – dedicated to administrative expenses – were spent on. 

Sources close to Missio have told MaltaToday that they are keen to see the impending audit scrutinize Micallef’s frequent long-haul flights, which are paid for through the 15% in charity funds dedicated to administrative expenses.

Indeed, past editions of Missio’s monthly magazine Malta Missjunarja show that Micallef makes frequent long-haul flights, often to visit the Maltese-funded missions. Since 2008, he has visited India (three times), Peru (twice), the Philippines, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Malawi, Ethiopia, Brazil, Bolivia, Ghana, and he is currently in Rwanda. 

However, Micallef defended his use of charity funds to travel, arguing that he doesn’t earn a salary for his position as director and that his flight expenses don’t exceed €2,000 a year.

“As director, my job involves speaking to the Maltese public about the missions, and there are some things in life that you just have to experience to speak about,” he said. “The alternative would be speaking about the missions based on what I’d have read about online or in a book,” he told MaltaToday. 

“Those visits to the missions aren’t holidays but are part of my work. I don’t stay in hotels or in the rich parts of town but with the missionaries in rural areas where the projects are carried out.”

He said that his role at the annual visits involves bringing clothes and stationery to the missions, ensuring that the funds are being spent appropriately, and giving courage to the Maltese missionaries. 

“I would have no problem with having my travel expenses audited. I publish all the details of my trips in Malta Missjunarja, so I surely have nothing to hide.”