When American Robert Francis Prevost takes over the responsibility as the spiritual leader for over one billion Catholics, he inherits Vatican's economic headache.
In February, just three days before his predecessor Pope Francis was hospitalized, Prevost ordered the establishment of a new commission. The purpose was to get more people to donate money to the church to cover a growing budget deficit.
They will need to choose someone who is a fundraiser, not a pastor, said a priest to Reuters before the pope.
Strained for a long time
Getting insight into the Holy See's finances has historically not been easy. In connection with a trial in 2021, large parts of the Vatican's assets were made public for the first time: Over 5,500 properties in exclusive areas in Italy and abroad.
Through "Peter's Pence", a fund consisting of public donations, billions flow in. The Vatican also earns entrance fees to its museums – where masterpieces by Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Leonardo da Vinci hang.
Despite the assets, the economic situation has long been strained.
In the latest reported financial statement, which was approved in mid-2024, the deficit was 83 million euros (approximately 900 million kronor). Furthermore, the deficit in the Vatican's pension fund was estimated to be around 631 million euros (nearly 6.9 billion kronor) in 2022.
Sources to Wall Street Journal tell about priests more occupied with spiritual matters rather than economic. And when the former Pope Francis brought in an auditor in an attempt to straighten up the economy, the auditor was astonished by nuns still doing bookkeeping with paper and pen.
In a letter, Pope Francis warned last autumn about the rising deficits. He demanded that the Vatican should introduce a rigorous plan to avoid going minus – but before any decisions could be taken in the matter.
Warned about deficits
But the problems don't stop there. The Vatican Bank, formally the Institute for Religious Works, has been called the world's most secretive bank – and has over the years been accused of, among other things, money laundering, embezzlement, and connections to organized crime.
During his time in power, Pope Francis took several measures to improve the bank's transparency. The power structure at the top was changed, leading persons were replaced, and thousands of the bank's accounts were closed. But the problems have been difficult to wash away.
In 2023, a cardinal was sentenced to prison for embezzlement and fraud, among other things, after a two-billion investment in a property in London.
Corrected: In an earlier version, the pension fund's deficit was incorrectly stated.
