A total of 49 employees are threatening to sue the Vatican over “working conditions that undermine dignity”

ROMA, May 12th. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Forty-nine Vatican Museums employees have threatened to sue the Vatican’s “Governatorate,” the body that manages the Vatican City State, over working conditions they say “undermine dignity.”

The workers – 47 caretakers, a restaurateur and a bookseller (out of a total of 700) – have sent a formal letter to Cardinal Fernando Vèrgez Alzaga, president of the Governatorato, on which the museum employees also rely, threatening to do so to take the Vatican to court if some basic norms that govern work within the Holy See are not changed, according to the Italian newspapers Il Corriere della Sera and Europa. The press has confirmed this from legal sources.

If carried out, it would be the first known class action lawsuit in the Vatican, where there are no unions representing workers. For example, in the letter – edited by the well-known Italian lawyer Laura Sgrò – the same person who managed to reopen the investigation into the disappearance of the young Emanuela Orlandi in 1983 – the Vatican employees regret having done so have to do extra work that is paid at a cheaper rate, or carry out extensive check-ups in the event of illness, including, for example, home visits to the doctor.

“Your Most Reverend Eminence, the working conditions threaten the dignity and health of every single worker. The poor management is obvious, which would be even more serious if it obeyed the sole logic of obtaining greater benefits,” they emphasize in the letter.