The Vatican bank has rehired a married couple fired last year for breaking the financial institution’s internal regulations forbidding workplace marriages.

The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) — which manages financial assets entrusted to it by the Holy See, the Vatican City State, and Catholic institutions globally — rehired the couple in a negotiated settlement following the couple’s filing of a wrongful termination lawsuit in January, a union for Vatican lay employees announced Wednesday.

Silvia Carlucci and Domenico Fabiani married on Aug. 31, 2024. The IOR fired the couple a month later, on Oct. 2, citing a rule introduced by the financial institution in September 2024 that explicitly forbids the employment of spouses or other close family members.

The Association of Lay Employees of the Vatican (ADLV) celebrated the outcome of the case — the couple was dubbed by the Italian media as the “Romeo and Juliet of the Vatican” for defying a rule they considered unjust and outdated — as a victory for justice and good sense.

“In the end, justice prevailed, guided by reason: Silvia and Domenico, dismissed from the IOR after marrying, will be reinstated in the Vatican,” the ADLV stated in a press release. 

According to the Associated Press, before firing the couple, the Vatican bank had suggested one of the two quit, but the couple said they were not in a financial position to do so due to obligations to former spouses, children, and a new mortgage.

The lay employees’ union expressed its gratitude to those who helped reach the settlement: “We thank all those who made this agreement possible … It has been a victory for common sense, discernment, and the wise will to protect a family.”

The group also stressed that the case highlights the need for “stronger foundations for the application of labor law in the Vatican” and raised questions about the current IOR regulations, which “would clearly be unconstitutional in Italy.”

“In the Vatican there are no social safety nets,” the statement added, calling it “problematic when facing crises of various kinds.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.