Several news outlets—including the Daily Mail, the Express, The Crux and The Pillar—are reporting that the Vatican has worsening financial strain.
Pope Francis started changing the Vatican’s financial structures after taking office in 2013 but has not followed-through to complete many of them. He issued a letter noting his concern on September 16 2024. He provided few facts.
The Vatican’s financial problems became acute during the COVID pandemic when it’s income went from €307 Million (2019) to €213 million (2021)—a ~30% reduction. The Vatican is now warning that it has nearly depleted its financial reserves from past donations to cover budget deficits over recent years. The pension fund alone is said to have a 630 million shortfall! (NB: outlets differ as to whether this is $ or €.)
Finances
Income for the Vatican comes from donations, investments/Real Estate portfolio and museum entry fees.
Donations from developed countries have collapsed. Only about 20% of the Church’s properties produce direct income and the museum entrance fees took a severe hit during COVID, though that segment is getting back to normal. (I can attest to seeing large crowd in the Vatican Museum this year!)
Several numbers are being bandied about but according to the Pillar:
The Secretariat for the Economy formerly published an annual mission budget presentation, but has not done so since 2022. According to the last published budget report, curial operations in 2022 were set to cost 796 million euros per year, with a forecast operating loss of 33.4 million after expected donations from sources including Peter’s Pence.
The Pillar also noted that:
A separate report on the management of Peter’s Pence, the annual collection to support the work of the Holy Father, painted a catastrophic picture:
While voluntary donations climbed in 2023, total revenue nearly halved, and the fund disposed of millions of euros in real estate assets in a fire sale to help cover the operations of the Roman curia the previous year.
According to the Crux magazine:
The report cited a recently completed financial statement approved by the Vatican’s Council for the Economy, led by German Cardinal Reinhard Marx. According to the report, the deficit for 2023 amounted to over $90 million, with income of $1.25 billion and expenses of $1.34 billion.
Scandals
There is a separate Pillar article discussing the crimes of “Cardinal Becciu and half a dozen other officials and advisors around the Secretariat of State of abusing their offices and swindling millions from the Church.”
Causes
A person on 𝕏 reasonably noted that: “Catholics are not interested in donating for a pope and clergy dead set on socialism, climate change, immigration, transgender rights, and the redefinition of family values…”
Another commented: “The Church’s financial problems aren’t caused by the faithful not giving enough. Its deficit is entirely caused by institutional corruption, sexual abuse settlements, and ham-fisted meddling in secular ideological disputes and culture wars.”
Many people have left the Church as a consequence of the Sexual Abuse scandal. The Church’s response to the scandal was heavy handed and—in my opinion—is directly going to reduce volunteerism and as a consequence, donations.
Logically, I understand why the Church complied with the 2020 COVID restrictions and closed churches for weeks-on-end. Emotionally, I am aggrieved as to how the Church showed that the sacraments are optional…
Go Woke: Go Broke!
Dr. Kevin Hay
You can follow Kevin on 𝕏 (Twitter) @ kevinhay77