The Holy See has a heritage of about 4 billion euros: very large, but less than one might think. Attention, however: the Holy See is only the “central government” of the church based in the Vatican, not the Church as a wholewhich is made up of countless institutions scattered in almost the whole world: parishes, schools, missions, hospitals, places of worship, and many other entities. In other words, the church near our house, with its furnishings, works of art, etc., does not fall within the patrimony of the Holy See.
The entrances of the Holy See come from various sources: Obolo di San Pietro, Ior, tourism, copyright in the pope’s books and others. The Holy See spends its money especially for reasons of management and administration e not for works of charityarousing some criticisms for this. Nonetheless, The accounts are chronically in red: due to the decrease in donations received by the faithful, for an unavailable management of finances and above all for a series of scandals related to corruption and money laundering. In total, it is estimated that in 2023 the Holy See closed the balance with about 84 million euros of deficit.
The problem has been known for decades, and in his twelve years of pontificate Pope Francis He had started a series of reforms to make Vatican finances more transparent and sustainable. Among the many moves of the late Pontiff there was also the creation of the Secretariat for the economya dicastery under which all the responsibility of the Vatican accounts falls, and which has the power of veto on the budgets of the other dicasteries.
What is meant by the Holy See
Before dwelling on the budget of the Holy See, we must understand what we are talking about. The Holy See, or Apostolic See, is theGovernment organ of the Catholic Church in the worldwith a “central” base in the Vatican city and peripheral organs scattered in numerous countries. From the Holy See depends on the Roman Curiathat is, the dicastery complex in charge of governing the Church: Dicastery for the doctrine of faith, for evangelization, for the clergy, etc.
The Holy See It should therefore not be confused with the Church in its entiretythat is, all ecclesiastical institutions (parishes, schools, hospitals, etc.) present in the world.
Logic, the Holy See does not even coincide with the Vatican, which is a state, but often the two terms are used as synonyms.
As far as the Holy See heritage amounts
The Holy See has an estimated assets in about four billion euros. Therefore it is not, as is sometimes thought, one of the richest institutions in the world.
Part of the assets is composed of real estate. Overall, the Holy See has about 5,400 real estate units, of which 4,249 in Italy (largely in Rome). Some assets of the Holy See, such as the works of art owned by the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, the rooms of Raffaello, etc.,, they are of priceless valuebut are considered a World Heritage Site rather than of the Church, as declared by Francesco in 2015.
The Holy See assets should not be confused with all the properties of the Church in the world, that is, that of all Ecclesiastical institutionswhich, logically, is much more large. Only in Italy, the Church has 45 927 buildings Among places of worship, schools, parish centers, residences, hospitals, etc., for a value of over 42 billion euros and a total area of 38.6 million square meters.
The overall real estate assets of the Church in the world is estimated at approximately 2000 billion eurosbut there are no precise data.
The Vatican Treasury: where the money comes from and what is spent for
The entrances of the Holy See come from various sources. One of the most important is the so -called St. Peter’s Obolothat is, the offers that on June 29 (day of St. Peter and Paul) of each year the faithful from all over the world donate to the Vatican. Churches scattered around the world are concerned with collecting offers and sending them to Rome. It is estimated that in 2023 the offenders generated useful for approximately 52 million euros, decreasing compared to previous years.
The other two “economic machines” of the Holy See from which other revenues derive are theAdministration of the heritage of the Apostolic See (APSA), which is the body that manages the patrimony of the Holy See in Italy and abroad, and theInstitute for religion works (IOR), considered, a little improperly, the Vatican’s “bank”, which in the past has been at the center of several scandals.
Other entries are guaranteed by religious tourismespecially from the entrances to Vatican Museumsas well as by the sales rights of the Pope’s books and other Vatican authors, by the offers of the faithful and other sources (but not from the 8 x 1000 of the Irpef, which is intended for the Italian dioceses and not to the Holy See).
The outputs are mainly related to expenses of the Roman Curia and other ecclesiastical institutions: salaries for employees, management expenses, representation, etc. Only a small percentage of the outputs is intended for works of charitywhich often arouses controversy. For the Obolo di San Pietro, for example, it is estimated that only 10% is intended for the needy and the rest serves to cover expenses of the Holy See.
In any case, for years the budget of the Holy See has been passive. According to journalistic indiscretions, in 2023 the exits would be equal to 1,236 millionwith an increase of 33 million compared to 2022, and the revenue a 1,152 million eurosgrowing 28 million. The deficit would therefore amount to about 84 million euros. The new pontiff, therefore, will certainly have to worry about putting order in the accounts.
