Le Penna newspaper said that the Vatican wealth is estimated at billions of euros, and this is evident for everyone who visited its museums and the Cathedral of St. Peter, but the public budget deficit accumulates year after year.
“Is the Pope rich?” The newspaper said – in a report by Mark Furni – to respond to being theoretically rich, but he is not practically, although he has absolute sovereignty at the head of an independent independent city with an invaluable legacy, and he is elected president of the Catholic Church to care for “the souls of the believers”, and to manage his small state in the best way.
The Pope – as the newspaper says – does not receive a direct salary in exchange for his duties, and all he has to do is seek help and subsidies to perform his mission, but the Cardinals, who are the princes of the church, receive about 4,500 euros per month, and many of them work in the papal government with the rank of minister.
It is no secret to everyone who visited the Cathedral of St. Peter, the Church of Cistin and the Vatican Museums, that the Catholic Church possesses invaluable artworks (about 70 thousand parts listed), from ancient times to the Renaissance, sculptures and paintings, and very rare pieces, as well as the treasures of the Apostolic Library group, but these exceptional assets are difficult to sell in the market, because they are an integral part From the history of Christianity.
Assets estimated at 5 billion euros
But the Vatican also has marketable assets, which are real estate and financial investments, whose total value is estimated at 5 billion euros, most of which are “located in Italy, and they include rents for rent, hospitals, schools and some companies,” according to Geo Histuer magazine.
In addition, the Vatican has more than a thousand properties abroad, and investments in high -end neighborhoods in London, Geneva and Paris, all of which are managed by the Apostolic Chair Heritage Department, which made a profit of 46 million euros in 2023, according to the Vatican figures.
These revenues contribute to the Vatican budget, which amounts to more than one billion euros annually – according to the newspaper – to which Bens Boutros revenue is added, a fund that is collected through a global donation campaign held annually at the end of June, as well as donations and individuals’ wills.
Although the amounts that were previously gathered from this box amount to 100 million euros, they no longer exceed 50 million, and this decrease is due to the Kofid-19 pandemic, as well as to the positions that were considered divisive that Pope Francesco has taken, and to the repeated scandals that rocked the church.
The newspaper stated that there are funds that donate the richest in the world from the United States, Italy, Germany, Brazil and South Korea, in addition to the income of tourism, pilgrims and large Vatican museums, then sales of holdings, souvenirs and candles.
Anti -money laundering
As for expenditures, they are the salaries and pensions of about 5 thousand employees, administrative and public costs, in addition to the Pope’s personal support for charitable work and projects, as he distributed 13 million euros in 2023 in 76 countries.
“The Vatican finds it difficult to maintain a balanced budget since the health crisis,” Gio Histuer magazine said, as the annual deficit reached between 30 million and 70 million euros in recent years, and the employee pension fund has accumulated a financial deficit of at least 350 million euros.
Pope Francesco made the budget his priority in the hope of achieving a “zero deficit”, but he failed to achieve this, but he succeeded in controlling financial conditions that were mysterious, and he was proud of 2019 saying, “I am happy because this is the first time that the cover is revealed from the inside, not from the outside.”
Indeed, the Francesco administration was more strict and transparent, and made the fight against money laundering in practice a priority, so the Vatican institutions became complied with international standards, closed nearly 5 thousand suspicious accounts within the Vatican Bank, and redirect investments towards more moral funds, but strong and opposite winds, in addition to the internal competitions and the rooted secrecy.
