Here are the costs and revenues forecast in the Vatican’s 2021 budget
Pope Francis has approved the Holy See's budget for 2021: an estimated deficit of 49.7 million euros. All the details
Covid also affects the Vatican budget.
Yesterday, Pope Francis granted the nulla osta to the 2021 budget of the Holy See, proposed by the Secretariat for the Economy and discussed and approved last Tuesday, February 16, by the Council for the Economy.
With total revenues of 260.4 million euros and expenditure of 310.1 million euros, the Holy See expects a deficit of 49.7 million euros in 2021, "heavily influenced by the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic". This was reported by a press release from the Secretariat for the Economy, led by the Spanish Jesuit Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves .
But "avoiding the deficit is not the goal of the Holy See," Guerrero Alves declared in an interview last October .
According to Father Guerrero, “the Holy See does not function as a company or as a state, it does not seek profits or surpluses. It is therefore normal that it is in deficit. Almost all the dicasteries are in fact 'cost centers': they perform a service that is neither sold nor sponsored ”.
All the details on the 2021 budget of the Roman Curia, that is, of the Holy See in the strict sense: sixty entities at the service of the Pope in his mission of guiding the Church. In fact, the budget of the IOR remains distinct; that of the Vatican Governorate and the budget of the Pension Fund.
BUDGET CONSOLIDATES OBOLO AND DEDICATED FUNDS
For the first time, with the aim of giving greater visibility and transparency to the economic transactions of the Holy See – as repeatedly requested by the Pontiff – the 2021 Budget consolidates the Pence of St. Peter fund and all dedicated funds.
With revenues of € 47.3 million and disbursements to third party beneficiaries of € 17 million, the Holy See expects a net balance of € 30.3 million from these funds.
VATICAN REVENUES DECREASE
Excluding the Pole and dedicated funds, the Holy See's deficit would be 80 million euros in 2021. Revenues decreased by 21% (48 million euros) compared to 2019, due to the reduction in commercial activities, services and activities real estate, as well as donations and contributions.
REDUCED EXPENSES FOR THE HOLY SEE
"The budget – explains the note from the Secretariat for the Economy – also reflects a significant effort to contain costs, with operating expenses – excluding personnel costs -, reduced by 14% (24 million) compared to 2019".
PRIORITIES FOR POPE FRANCIS TO MAINTAIN THE JOBS
In any case, "the maintenance of jobs continues to be a priority for the Holy Father in these difficult times".
"Consistently with its mission, most of the resources of the Holy See in 2021 will be dedicated to supporting apostolic activities, equal to 68% of total expenses, while 17% is destined for the management of patrimony and other assets, and a 15% to administration and services ".
DEFICIT REPLACEMENT WITH RESERVES OF THE HOLY SEE
"If the level of donations remains that expected, the deficit will be covered through the use of part of the reserves of the Holy See", concluded the Secretariat for the Economy.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/ecco-costi-e-ricavi-previsti-nel-budget-2021-del-vaticano/ on Fri, 19 Feb 2021 15:02:36 +0000.