The Pope cuts salaries for cardinals, clergy and nuns in Rome

Vatican City. Trying to save jobs as pandemic hits Vatican revenue, pope Francisco order Wednesday wage cuts for cardinals, clerics and nuns working in the Holy See.

In a decree published in L’Osservatore Romano, Francisco indicated that from April the salaries of the cardinals will be reduced by 10%. The superiors of the various departments of the Holy See, who, with few exceptions, are clergy, will be affected by cuts of 8%, while the reduction for priests and nuns of lower rank will be 3%.

In the decree, the pope says the finances of the Holy See have been marked by several years of deficit. Francisco wrote that in addition to financial problems, the COVID-19 pandemic “has negatively impacted all sources of revenue for the Holy See and the Vatican City State.”

The belt adjustment “aims to save current jobs,” Francisco wrote.

Lower-ranking lay workers in the Vatican are not affected by wage cuts, but their increases, every two years, will be temporarily frozen. However, lay workers with lower wages will receive an increase.

Prohibitions on tourism in many countries and other restrictions due to the pandemic have drastically reduced the revenues of the Vatican Museums, which, with its Sistine Chapel, is a perennial money generator for the Vatican.

Museums are currently closed and will remain so for at least the next Easter, which is usually one of the busiest times for tourism in Rome.

Cardinals, other clergy, and nuns in Rome generally do not have the expenses that most lay people have, such as rents or mortgages at market value, utility bills, and heating, as many reside in Vatican-owned homes or of religious orders.

Some cardinals have spacious and well-equipped apartments in Rome’s historic palaces. A cardinal working in the Vatican can earn about 5,000 euros a month ($ 6,000).

In any case, Francisco noted, the salary cuts will not apply to anyone who can document that the cuts will make it “impossible for him to cover fixed expenses related to his health conditions” or those of close relatives.