Vatican, Peter’s Pence Is Not Enough. Pope Francis’ Reserves Are Being Drawn On –

Gabriel Imperial

July 28, 2024

Peter’s Pence no longer seems to be enough. Between inflation and a decrease in the number of faithful, the Holy See is having more and more difficulty balancing its coffers and the disparity between income and expenditure is widening – negatively – year after year. The Vatican itself certifies the serious economic situation in the latest 2023 annual report of the Peter’s Pence Fund. 52 million euros have entered the homes of the Holy See thanks to donations and offerings from the faithful. The expenses incurred instead amount to 109.4 million euros. Therefore: expenditure is more than double the income and the deficit is approximately 57.4 million euros. A situation that is not exactly rosy and has forced the Vatican to dip into its reserves.

But the difficulties of the papal coffers are nothing new. As reconstructed by Milano Finanza, in fact, last year the Peter’s Pence fund had collected “only” 43.5 million euros. The balance sheets had been restored by the 63.5 million in financial proceeds from the Holy See – mostly real estate sales operated from Rome. This year, however, the situation is totally different: higher outgoings (+11.5 million compared to 2022) and lower income, mostly from donations received from the faithful. No new financial operations. Offerings that, despite everything, have registered a small increase (48.4 million, almost 5 million more than the previous year) and which remain far from the numbers of 2009 when they reached 82.5 million and 2013 when the Pence collected 78 million euros.

The largest revenues came from dioceses (64.4%) and foundations (28.8%), and especially from the United States, Italy, Brazil and Germany. Turning to expenses, in 2023 the Peter’s Pence fund provided contributions for over 103 million euros. The bulk of the expenditure, around 90 million, supported “the activities carried out by the Holy See in service of the Pope’s apostolic mission” while 13 million went to the neediest. 68 projects were supported in Africa, 100 in Europe, 34 in America, 33 in Asia and 0.8% of the budget went to Oceania. The Vatican paid particular attention to scholarships for priests, seminarians and religious from Africa, Latin America and Asia. Almost one million euros (800 thousand) was instead allocated to Ukraine to “sponsor various pastoral and social initiatives in favor of the population tormented by the war”.