Bank says decision 'in no way intended to question the right of two people to be united in marriage'
The Vatican Bank has terminated the employment of a married couple whose union violated newly implemented workplace regulations prohibiting marriages between staff members, according to reports.
The bank, officially known as the Institute for the Works of Religion, confirmed the decision in a statement released earlier this month.
"This decision, taken with deep regret, was dictated by the need to preserve transparency and impartiality in the Institute's activities, and in no way intended to question the right of two people to be united in marriage," the bank said in the statement quoted by CNN.
The termination comes after the bank, which has only around 100 employees, adopted in May a rule prohibiting marriage among its workforce.
According to the bank, the policy seeks to prevent conflicts of interest in the institution, CNN reported.
Laura Sgrò, a lawyer representing the couple, described the termination as "null, illegitimate, and seriously detrimental to the fundamental rights of individuals and workers, and therefore devoid of any effect."
She said her clients had informed the bank of their intent to marry in February, well before the new policy took effect in May.
Sgrò said she had challenged and contested the decision, while the couple had appealed directly to Pope Francis and the bank's director, Gian Franco Mammi, to seek exemptions from the policy. However, neither individual responded to their request, she noted.
