Religion: Vatican Efficiency

The American Institute of Management, which evaluated the efficiency of the Roman Catholic Church under Pope Pius XII at 8,800 out of a possible 10,000 points (TIME, Jan. 30, 1956), this week announced that according to a new audit, Pope John XXIII has raised the church's "management excellence" rating 210 points to 9,010.*

The improvement has been registered mostly in the categories "Trustee Analysis" and "Administrative Evaluation." Under the former, the institute praises Pope John's increase in the College of Cardinals from 52 at the death of Pope Pius XII to 86, of whom 32 are Italians. As for Administrative Evaluation, says the report: "Pius XII was a man of extraordinary spiritual values . . . John XXIII is a man of the people, practical, knowledgeable, and seemingly effective in grasping the situation that confronts the Church, everywhere. There is less of a Roman clique behind today's decisions in the Church, and more of a hard-working cardinalate. All down the line there has been a noticeable improvement in placing the right man in the right position of authority."