The Vatican City (Reuters) – Before he was transferred to the hospital due to dual pneumonia, Pope Francis was fighting strong resistance from some of his Cardinals on how to bridge a medium gap in Vatikan Vatikan.
Three days before he was hospitalized, Francis ordered the establishment of a new high -level committee to encourage donations at the headquarters of the Catholic Church, which is valued at 1.4 billion.
The new “Apostolic Chair Committee”, which was announced by the Vatican on Wednesday, was formed, when Francis was spending his thirteenth day in the hospital, after the Pope faced his payment in exchange for his proposals for the Vatican budget discounts from inside Romanian Corsia.
Reliable news and daily career, direct
Watch yourself-Yodel is the source of transition for daily news, entertainment and feeling.
At a closed meeting late last year, the Vatican heads, including senior Cardinans, argued against discounts and against the Argentine Pope’s desire to search for external financing to reform the deficit, two officials told Reuters.
Officials asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of information.
Francis seeks to correct the budget for several years. He cut the salaries of the Cardinals three times since 2021 and demanded a “zero deficit” agenda in September.
But it seems that his efforts had a little effect.
Although the Vatican has not published a full budget report since 2022, the last group of accounts, which was approved in mid -2014, included 83 million euros (87 million dollars), the two sources said.
Reuters could not independently check the deficit personality.
While the Vatican works with a deficit for years by re -balance in accounts and relying on profits from the investment income, the gap has grown significantly in recent years. In 2022, the gap informed by the Vatican amounted to 33 million euros.
Two of the Cardinals who supervised the Vatican budget rejected Reuters requests for interviews and did not provide the current budget information. The Vatican did not respond to the request to comment.
Retirement pensions
In addition to the budget concerns are the increasing obligations in the pension fund in the Vatican, which is estimated at 631 million euros by Caesar Vatican Finance in the 2022 media interview.
There was no official update for this number, but many of the informed were told Reuters that they believed it was corrupted.
“The Vatican budget problems will be forced to do a lot of things that you don’t want to do,” said Reverend Tom Reese, the Jesuit priest and commentator who wrote about the Vatican money.
He said that the Vatican may have to reduce his charitable works or diplomatic size in embassies all over the world.
“The Pope’s imprint can be reduced strongly,” said Reese. “If you cannot pay your bills, you can’t do much.”
Reuters could not determine the accurate causes of the growing budget deficiency in the Vatican. The Vatican suffered a great loss in the tourist income during the Kofid’s pandemic. In October, the Pope also said that there should be cuts in the budget of 40 million euros, 40 million euros for the vast multi -language Vatican operations.
Although the Vatican is the headquarters of the Global Catholic Church, it only generally controls its own budget. In most cases, individual dioceses and religious orders control their financial resources.
The Pope suggested dealing with budget problems at the last meeting, that the Vatican offices can seek external financing to achieve a balance between their expenses or avoid discounts in employment, according to officials who spoke to Reuters.
The sources said that many Cardinals have asked about the wisdom of such a step, on the pretext that it may lead to conflicts in the interests of the church.
Reuters was unable to determine the sources of financing that the Pope wants to click on. Many familiarity said that the wealthy Catholic institutions in the United States and Europe, which are usually operated independently and determine their financing priorities, can provide a valuable source of income.
On Wednesday, the new high -level committee was granted the task of encouraging donations from ordinary Catholics, national bishops’ conferences, and “and other potential beneficiaries.”
Limited income flows
The Pope appointed a new director of the pension fund in the Vatican in November, and warned that the operating structure may need change, without providing more details. The fund did not make its accounts public.
Several public pension funds have reduced the period in which retired employees will live, offering their budget accounts. In 1960, the average life expected in Italy was 69 versus 83 in 2022. It is not clear whether the Vatican had made any amendment to take this into consideration.
“If the assumptions of the average life expectancy, this may be a big problem,” said Gregory Kerani, a researcher at Stanford University who studied failed pension funds in the United States in the United States.
The Vatican, Microstate inside Rome, has limited financial options. Debt, bonds or tax taxes are not issued. A cash agreement for the year 2010 with the European Union limits the Vatican from issuing a fixed amount of euro currencies every year, at the beginning of 2.3 million euros.
The international Catholic headquarters instead contains three main income flows. The donations takes through the Pope’s official fund. It has an investment portfolio, including stock investments and more than 5,000 properties, the vast majority of Italy. Money earns acceptance to the Vatican museums.
Museums have suffered from a significant decrease in income during the roaming epidemic from 2020 to 2022, due to the closure that stretches in Italy, but visitors have been immersed since 2023.
The Vatican reported a profit of 45.9 million euros about his investments in 2024. He did not say whether he was selling any assets, but he said that 35 million euros of profit came from better management of rental property.
The donations to the Vatican were relatively stable, with an average of about 45 million euros over the past decade, reaching an increase of 74 million euros in 2018 and 66 million euros in 2019.
However, Ed Sol, a professor of business at Georgetown University run by Elisoit in Washington, is concerned that wealthy Catholic donors can start blocking donations if they feel that they are using unreasonable pension obligations instead of charitable work.
“Some donors will look at this and say that I am not really interested in using my money to finance your non -siped pension,” he said. “It is not just something that makes people excited.”
The hopes of the jubilee
The Pope’s budget problems come as the Vatican expects a record number of visits by tourists in 2025, as part of the continuous Catholic Holy Sunnah, also known as the jubilee. About 32 million tourists are expected throughout the year.
Many tourists will pay for admission to museums, which cost at least 20 euros. “There is no doubt that this will make a lot of money in the Vatican treasures,” said JF Pollard, a British historian who wrote about the Vatican money.
But only part of this income will help fill the budget deficit, as museums must also pay their employees and coverage costs for exhibitions and their wide -ranging actions to save and restore.
Reese said that the jubilee will not bring enough money to fill the deficit. “It is not as if the Pope receives $ 1,000 for every pilgrim,” he said.
The Jesuit Priest suggested that the 88 -year -old Pope, has been transferred to the hospital several times in recent years, may decide to sell some investment portfolio in the Vatican to cover the deficit.
Any sale that will provide immediate income but reduces future investment profits.
“This postpones the problem for some of the Pope in the future,” said Reese. “Whether it will be the following (the Pope) or one yet, there will be a day of account.”
($ 1 = 0.9525 euros)
(Participated in the reports of Joshua Maglawi; edited by Krispian Palmer and Daniel Flynn)
