The Vatican says it expects a deficit of nearly $ 60.7 million this year due to pandemic losses, a figure that rises to $ 97 million when donations from believers are excluded.
ROME – The Vatican said on Friday it expects a deficit of nearly 50m euros ($ 60.7m) this year due to pandemic losses, a figure that rises to 80m euros ($ 97m) ) when donations of believers are excluded.
The Vatican has published a summary of its 2021 budget, which has been 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 launched its projected consolidated budget, part of Francis’ effort to make the Vatican’s finances more transparent and accountable.
The Vatican has recorded 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 anticipates that the deficit will increase to 49.7 million euros in 2021, but that it was expected to fill the deficit with reserves.
Francis especially wanted to release information about Peter’s Pence’s collections from the faithful, which are billed as a concrete way to help the pope in his work and charity, but are also used to lead the bureaucracy of the Holy See.
The funds were examined amid a financial scandal over how these donations were invested by the Vatican secretariat of state.
Vatican prosecutors investigating the office’s 350 million euro investment in a London real estate company said part of the money came from Peter’s Pence’s donations. Other Vatican officials dispute the claim, but it has become a scandal.
Francis defended the Vatican’s investment in Peter’s Pence’s funds, saying that any good administrator would invest the money wisely, rather than keep it in a “drawer.”
According to a statement from the Economic Council, the Vatican received revenues of about 47.3 million euros from Peter’s Pence’s collections and other dedicated funds and made grants of 17 million euros, leaving a net amount of about 30 million. euro.
The number of collections of Peter’s Pence is much lower than a decade ago. In 2009, the collection reached $ 82.52 million, while the collection totaled $ 75.8 million in 2008 and $ 79.8 million in 2007. It is believed that sexual abuse and financial scandals in the church are at least partially responsible for the decline.
The Vatican’s overall operating income fell by 21%, or 48 million euros, last year. Its revenues had a negative impact from the closure of the Vatican Museums related to the pandemic, which registered only 1.3 million visitors in 2020, compared to almost 7 million the previous year. The museums, along with the Vatican’s real estate, provide most of the liquidity of the Holy See.