ROME (AP) – The Vatican warned on Friday that it has almost exhausted its financial reserves from past donations to cover budget deficits in recent years, as it urged to continue giving to the faithful so that the Holy See is afloat and the ministry of Pope Francis continued.
The Vatican published its budget for 2021 in its latest effort to achieve greater financial transparency amid a projected budget deficit of 50 million euros this year. The goal is to assure donors that their money is being spent well, after years of mismanagement that is currently focused on a Vatican corruption investigation.
Francis’ economy minister, the Rev. Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, said the coronavirus pandemic, which reduced donations and revenue from closed Vatican Museums, would contribute to a projected 30% reduction in revenue to $ 213 million. euros in 2021, from 307 million euros in 2019, the last year available.
He noted that the Vatican had achieved a significant reduction in costs during last year’s closing, with a drastic reduction in travel costs, consultations, conferences and assemblies and postponement of unnecessary repairs and maintenance. In an interview with Vatican Media, Guerrero said he hoped to cut spending by 8% by 2021, without resorting to layoffs, which Francis opposes.
But even then, the € 50 million deficit projected for 2021 will once again require immersing oneself in past donation reserves to cover expenses. Guerrero confirmed that in 2019, the Vatican used 27.2 million euros in Peter’s Pence reserves to cover its operating costs, in addition to the 53.8 million euros in revenue from that Peter’s Pence fund. year.
In 2020, he estimated that the Vatican earned 40 million euros in Peter’s Pence reserves and that a similar amount was expected in 2021.
Peter’s Pence funds, which are usually offered during an annual fundraiser at Mass, are billed as a concrete way to help the pope in his ministry and charity, but are also used to run the bureaucracy of the Mass. Holy See.
“This recourse to Peter’s Pence reserves in recent years means that the fund’s liquidity is running out and with the current crisis it is very likely that in 2022 we will have to resort to some extent to APSA’s assets,” he said. , referring to the Vatican’s central bank, which manages the Holy See’s real estate and other financial investments.
The Peter’s Pence funds have been the subject of an examination amid an investigation by Vatican prosecutors into the Secretary of State’s € 350 million investment in a London real estate company, some of which were apparently funded by Peter’s Pence.
Several Italian brokers and dealers, as well as some Vatican officials, are being investigated on suspicion of charging millions of fees to the Holy See.