The Pope reduces the salaries of cardinals, clergy and nuns in Rome

Vatican City. Trying to save jobs as the pandemic hits the Vatican’s income, the pope Francisco on Wednesday it ordered pay cuts for cardinals, clergy and nuns working at 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 clerics, will be affected by reductions of 8%, while the reduction for priests and nuns of lower rank will be 3%.

In the decree, the pope says that the finances of the Holy See have been marked by several years of deficit. Francis wrote that, in addition to financial problems, the COVID-19 pandemic “had a negative impact on all sources of income for the Holy See and the Vatican City State.”

Tightening the belt “is meant to save current jobs,” Francisco wrote.

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

Tourism bans in many countries and other restrictions due to the pandemic have dramatically reduced the revenues of the Vatican Museums, which, with the Sistine Chapel, is a perennial factor that generates money for the Vatican.

Museums are currently closed and will remain so for at least the next Easter, which is normally one of the busiest tourist periods 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 live in Vatican or Vatican-owned homes.

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

In any case, Francisco said, the pay cuts will not be applied to anyone who can document that the cuts will make it “impossible to cover fixed expenses related to his health conditions” or those of close family members.