The Vatican says it expects a deficit of nearly $ 60.7 million this year due to pandemic-related losses, a figure that rises to $ 97 million when donations from the faithful are excluded.
ROME – The Vatican said on Friday it expects a deficit of about 50 million euros ($ 60.7 million) this year due to pandemic-related losses, a figure that grows to 80 million euros ($ 97 million) when donations from the faithful are excluded.
The Vatican published a summary of its budget for 2021 that was approved by Pope Francis and the Holy See’s Economic Council, a commission of external experts overseeing the Vatican’s finances. The publication was believed to be the first time the Vatican has published its planned consolidated budget, which is part of Francis’ desire to make the Vatican’s finances more transparent and accountable.
The Vatican has maintained a deficit in recent years, reducing it to 11 million euros in 2019, from a hole of 75 million euros in 2018. The Vatican said on Friday that it predicted that the deficit would grow to 49.7 million euros in 2021, but which was expected to fill the deficit with reserves.
Francis particularly wanted to give the faithful information about the collections of Peter’s Pence, which are presented as a concrete way to help the pope in his ministry and works of charity, but which are also used to direct the bureaucracy of the Saint. His.
The funds have been scrutinized amid a financial scandal over how the Vatican secretary of state invested those donations.
Vatican prosecutors investigating the office’s € 350 million investment in a London real estate company have said part of the money came from Peter’s Pence’s donations. Other Vatican officials dispute the claim, but it nevertheless became a cause for scandal.
Francis has defended the Vatican’s investment in Peter’s Pence funds, saying any good administrator wisely invests money instead of keeping it in a “drawer”.
According to a statement from the Economic Council, the Vatican received revenue of about 47.3 million euros from the collections of Peter’s Pence and other dedicated funds and obtained 17 million euros in grants, leaving about 30 million euros net.
The number of Peter’s Pence collections is much lower than a decade ago. In 2009, the collection reached $ 82.52 million, while the collection amounted to $ 75.8 million in 2008 and $ 79.8 million in 2007. It is believed that sexual abuse and financial scandals in the church they will be at least partly responsible for the decline.
The Vatican’s overall operating income fell 21%, or 48 million euros, last year. Its revenue was a resounding success due to the closure related to the Vatican Museums pandemic, which recorded only 1.3 million visitors in 2020 compared to the nearly 7 million the previous year. Museums, along with Vatican real estate, provide most of the Holy See’s liquidity.