Vatican’s Ridential Finance: Will Pope Leo XIV be able to clean? | News for religion

In the days that led to the pap conclusion, which concluded on Thursday with election Robert Francis Prelost, 69, as Papa Leo XIV, Editor of Specialist News Catholic Church News Outlet Crux written by:

“Fine, there are three cardinal traits for each time they have to hit the tires on the possible pope, Vladimir troops and Governor, and someone who can take control of the Vatican, including engaging in his financial crisis.”

“There is a solid argument of the Previty ticks all three boxes,” John L Allen Jr concluded.

Vatican’s finances are really a mess and, while Pope Francis made some progress in the thorney issue of corruption, he failed to eliminate the Vatican financial deficit. Cleaning of Vatican’s messy finances, therefore likely to be the main task in front of the Pope Lea, which, useful, graduated in mathematics.

What condition are they in the Vatican?

Vatican who controls only his own budget, not the Catholic Church in other countries, has limited sources of income. Does not set taxes or issues a debt to earn interest, such as bonds or credit.

Instead, most of the Vatican revenues come from their huge Italian real estate and pontifiers or hospitals in Rome. Together they generated 65 percent of the 770m euros of St. Vied (875 million dollars) in revenues 2022. years, the latest figure available.

That year, approximately 30 percent of revenue arrived from donations, which remained relatively stable for the past decade, about 45m euros ($ 51 million) per year, and in 2019. year of 66 million euros ($ 75 million).

The remaining 5 percent of the revenue of the Vatican in 2022 was arrived from the Institute of Religion, or Vatican Bank, where Catholic organizations and church employees keep their accounts, and from tourism, which were refused during the Pandemic in Covid.

The Vatican did not publish a complete financial report from 2022. years. But the last set of accounts – approved in the average audit – showed an operational deficit of 83 million euros ($ 94 million), a large jump with less than 33m euros) reported in 2022. years. Years.

Growing financial problems of the Vatican are attributed to growing operating costs, including salaries, safety and maintenance of construction. In addition, there is a significant deficit in the St. Council’s Pension Fund.

Why is there a shortage in the Vatican Pension Fund?

The fund deficit was estimated at EUR 631 million (EUR 717 million) of the Vatican Secretariat for Economics in Economics in 2022. years. There was no official update on this figure.

In the past decades, many pension funds in the workplace underestimated how long for long retired employees would probably live. In 1960, for example, the average life in Italy was 69, compared to 83 in 2022. years. This means that many pension funds do not prepare adequately for the full amount that may need to pay on the real life of the former worker and thus build significant mankeys.

It is not clear if the pension fund for the Vatican Employees – a defined scheme of compensation, which means that promising the amount of the set amount of revenue retired regardless of funds to compensate for longer expectancy. However, in November, the Pope warned that he would not be able to fulfill his obligations in the medium term.

“Data … indicate a severe potential imbalance in the Fund, whose size that is rising over time in the absence of interventions,” Francis said in the letter of cardinal. “This means that the current system cannot be able to guarantee in the medium-term retirement obligations for future generations.”

Last year, the Pope appointed a new administrator – Cardinal Kevin Farrell, an Irish-American priest based in the Vatican city – and suggested that the operational structure of the pension may need to change, but did not provide details. Funding in the retirement fund will be difficult. The church will probably face opposition to the use of donations, for example, because these are usually made with special beneficial causes.

Why are otherwise Vatican’s finance in a mess?

After consuming almost 350m euros ($ 398 million) through a number of complex transactions for acquiring a Luxury London property Since 2014. Until 2018. years, Sveti See suffered a public returnee.

In an effort to move from unrest over this consumption, the Vatican sold the building in 2022. year in a loss of 140m euros (159 million dollars). The transaction raised questions about the opaque finances of the Vatican and eventually led to the Cardinal Angelo Becci Corruption trial, who supervised the contract.

The Vatican was built into other financial scandals. The most accurately was the collapse of Banco Ambrosian from 1982. year, the largest private Bank of Italy, which caused the Vatican about $ 250 million losses. At that time, the Vatican had close jobs with Roberto Calvi, a strong boss of the bank.

Calva’s body was found to hang out with the Blackfriars bridge in London a little before it appeared that he was a party washing a money laundering, conveying illegal payments to the Italian political parties and funds illegal weapons supply.

During the Second World War, the Vatican was charged with money and gold looted from Jews and other victims of Adolf Hitler’s Nazis regime.

What financial reforms were Francis supervised?

In 2019. Francis strained an anti-corruption plant, which included the police attack on his own bureaucracy of the Vatican and resulted in the Secretariat of the state to subtract his investment responsibilities.

In addition to the suspension of the five members of the Vatican staff, the investigation led to the conviction of Cardinal Giovanni Angela Becci, once a powerful number, on multiple numbers embezzlement and fraud.

In the months before he died, the Pope expressed special concern over the Vatican finances. In September, Cardinals called to continue the agenda “zero deficit” and improve the Vatican use of their economic property.

Then, in October, he ordered a third decrease in three years of collecting Vatican cardinals. Several bosses of the Vatican departments argued against the cuts and pushed back against the Pappenic plans for the search for external funds to repair the deficit, two high officials at the time were more high officials.

Francis could have established a momentum for financial reform. In 2021. year, the Vatican Bank earned the largest possible assessment from the European Money Guardian for its anti-launder money and anti-metrodic standards. Finally, however, Francis could not remove the church deficit, and his successor would face a significant financial challenge.

What could the next pope do?

Pope Leo was a very ally Francis and can love to withdraw with his reform program, perhaps by reducing the scope of the Vatican of the Global Diplomatic Presence – and therefore one huge cost. It remains to be seen, however, if it will benefit so far-reaching reforms as its predecessor and can really balance books.