From Reuters:
“Vatican reveals property
holdings for first time in transparency drive”
The Vatican released information
on its real estate holdings for the first time on Saturday, revealing it owns
more than 5,000 properties as part of its most detailed financial disclosures
ever. The information was contained in two documents, a consolidated financial
statement for 2020 for the Holy See and the first-ever public budget for the
Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA). APSA, a sort of general
accounting office, manages real estate and investments, pays salaries, and acts
as a purchasing office and human resources department.
Between the two documents - each
with an unprecedented number of pie charts, graphs and maps - and two
explanatory interviews, the Vatican issued more than 50 pages of financial
material. The 30-page APSA budget showed that it owns 4,051 properties in Italy
and about 1,120 abroad, not including its embassies around the world. Only
about 14% of its Italian properties were rented at market rates, while the
others were rented at cut rates, many to Church employees. About 40% were
institutional buildings such as schools, convents and hospitals. The
documentation showed that APSA owns properties as investments in upscale areas
of London, Geneva, Lausanne and Paris.
'TURNING POINT' One
building, in London's smart South Kensington district, led to enormous losses
after it was purchased by the Vatican's Secretariat of State as an investment
in 2014. On Tuesday, the trial of
10 people in connection with its purchase, including a prominent cardinal, starts
in the Vatican. They are charged with financial crimes including embezzlement,
money laundering, fraud, extortion and abuse of office. Father Juan Antonio Guerrero, head of the
Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy (SPE), told the official Vatican News
website that the building would be sold soon. He said the trial would be
a "turning point" in the Vatican's credibility in economic matters
and that a similar event could not be repeated because of measures put into
place since. Last year, Pope Francis stripped the Secretariat of State
of control over its funds, transferring them to APSA and with oversight by the
SPE. A separate consolidated financial statement for the Holy See issued
on Saturday showed a 64.8 million euro deficit in 2020, down from a 79.2
million deficit in 2019. The Holy See budget includes the central
administration of the Roman Catholic Church, known as the Curia, that oversees
the governing of the 1.3 billion-member worldwide Church, its global diplomatic
representations and media operations.
Vatican City, including the
Vatican Museums and the Vatican bank, has a separate budget. To plug the 2020
deficit, about 50 million euros were taken from Peter's Pence, a fund of
donations to help the pope carry out the Church's worldwide work. The COVID-19
pandemic hit Vatican revenues hard in 2020. St. Peter's Basilica and the
Vatican Museums, the latter a cash cow that received about 6 million paying
visitors in 2019, were closed or only partially open for much of 2020.
^ This report (and it being made
public by the Vatican) shows the Catholic Church is working – slowly – to become
more transparent and that is a good step. ^
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.