Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Freethinker

Home
Nonreligious
Pope orders pay cuts to offset millions lost due to COVID-19

Pope orders pay cuts to offset millions lost due to COVID-19

Last updated on: March 27, 2021 at 12:30 pm by Barry Duke

Pope orders pay cuts to offset millions lost due to COVID-19 2021-03-27T12:30:28+02:00 Barry Duke

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Image via YouTube

IN February this year, Team Francis brought the Pope grim tidings: God was a woman of colour and a lesbian to boot. Just kidding. The really bad news was that the COVID-19 pandemic is costing the Vatican millions in lost earnings.

According to Religion News Service (RNS), the Secretariat for the Economy – a Vatican agency created by Pope Francis to oversee financial operations – indicated in its 2021 budget that the Holy See was on course to lose more than $60-million.

Expenses for the city-state this year are expected to reach almost $376 million, while revenues lag behind at just above $316 million.

The Vatican said at the time that its finances were “heavily impacted by the economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” which shrank donations and closed the high-earning Vatican museums for months.

Yesterday, RNS reported that the Pope’s efforts to build a “poor church for the poor” got a little closer to becoming a reality when he issued pay cuts for Vatican clergy and employees.

In a decree, or motu proprio, he decreased the salary of Vatican cardinals by 10 percent.

(In 2019 Francis created 13 new cardinals, giving each of them some ostentatious bling along with their red hats.)

The heads of Vatican departments and secretaries will have their salaries reduced by eight percent, while the wages for priests will be decreased by three percent.

Cardinals who work in the offices and departments that make up the Roman Curia are paid between $5,300 and $6,000 a month. Other cardinals’ and bishops’ salaries are regulated by the local dioceses and can vary greatly, depending on the country.

The Pope himself does not receive a salary. As a Jesuit,Francis took a vow of poverty, which means that he may not receive a fixed income. Pontiffs can rely on Peter’s Pence, a global fund of donations by Catholic faithful, to finance their charitable works.

The new measures will be applied indefinitely, starting on April Fools’ Day.

All seniority-linked salary raises have been blocked until 2023, the Vatican document states.

The Pope’s pay cuts will be made “according to criteria of proportionality and progressivity,” the Vatican statement reads, with the highest reductions impacting senior and high-ranking officials.

The Vatican finances rely largely on donations from the faithful and tourists from all over the world visiting the renowned Vatican Museums. The COVID-19 pandemic, which left the museums empty and donations dwindling, added further strain to the already depleted Vatican finances, with no signs of economic recovery in 2021.

The decision to cut salaries was done with the goal of “safeguarding existing jobs,” without resorting to firing employees, according to the decree.

The new measures are a response to “the deficit that has characterized the economic management of the Holy See for several years” and the economic consequences of the pandemic:

Which negatively impacted all sources of revenue in the Holy See and Vatican City State.

RNS said that the Vatican has not been particularly forthcoming with the state of its finances in the past, but its 2021 budget was released:

With the objective of providing more visibility and transparency to the economic transactions of the Holy See.

Or, more likely, to get the faithful to help bail it out.

There is some cynicism in the comments below the RNS report.

“No Religion” wrote:

Fewer costly courtiers at the pricey papal court. Could this be the Vatican trying to catch up to the twentieth century?

Jim Johnson said:

A vow of poverty for the man wearing fine silks with gold threads surrounded by luxury and priceless pieces of art. Yeah, just like Jesus. Jesus did have a quality seamless undergarment but that’s about it.

And “Patrick” chipped in with:

The Vatican short of money? barf, choke, puke, vomit. The largest landholder in the world –the greatest art collection in the world –the greatest palace in the world. Over 1,000,000,000 members to fleece – and it’s short of money? Dio Mio …

• Please report any typos/errors to [email protected]

If you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee – and boy, do I get through a LOT of coffee keeping this site active – please click the link below.

I’d love a cup of coffee

Previous Post

March 24, 2021

Separate reports expose harm done by abusive evangelical leaders

Next Post

March 26, 2021 'Blasphemy' row erupts at UK school over Mohammed cartoon

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Archive My Atheism News Opinion Reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 March 2007 April 2006 February 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Peter Jesus Paul John the Baptist

Books by This Author Books by The Freethinker

See All Titles »