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Kolkata: The Vatican appears to be regaining financial health within a few months of Pope Leo XIV, a man with a mathematics major under his belt and a love for teaching physics, taking charge. According to reports, Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See has come up with profit of 62 million euros (around $63 million) in 2024. This is a 287% jump compared to the 16 million euro bottomline reported in 2023.
The Vatican has reportedly been in financial stress for years with structural deficit to the tune of 50-60 million euros. Perhaps worse, there is a pension fund shortfall of 1 billion euro. When Pope Leo XIV assumed charge on May 18 this year, this was the biggest challenge staring him in the face. The man with a skill with numbers did not waste time and grabbed the bull by its horns.
The new Pope seemed to be the man of the hour. He was born in in Chicago on September 14, 1955. His skill with numbers and financial reengineering can be traced to his graduating with mathematics at Villanova University based in Pennsylvania. He also developed a keen interest in Physics, which he taught occasionally at Chicago’s St. Rita High School, while undergoing studies in divinity at Theological Union of Chicago. The 69-year old Pope is also is also fluent in English, Spanish, Italian, French and Potuguese. He can also read Latin and German.
According to reports, Vatican's financial woes go back for years. One, its donations have gone down. Two, its vast real estates have been generating sub-optimal returns. The Vatican has as many as 4,234 real estate properties in Italy alone. There are more than 1,200 properties in some of the prime cities of the world such as London, Paris, Geneva and Lausanne in Switzerland. However, just about 20% fetch the Vatican rent that are in sync with the market. As many as 70% of these properties generate no income since they are utilized in accommodating different church offices. The rest 10-11% generate only low rents since they are used by employees of the Vatican as their residence.
Reports in Europe also indicate that Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See do not have enough resources in the coffers to upgrade and refurbish most of the properties that can fetch market rates. Maintenance has become increasingly more expensive and the meagre budgets of the order is not sufficient to carry out the job. In 2024, about 3.8 million Euro was spent on maintenance, which was inadequate.
Words like "bankruptcy" have often been used to describe the financial stress the world's smallest country is passing through. There was an operating deficit of $87 million in 2023. In 2012, the Vatican was suffocated by rising debt levels after the recession in Europe crippled it. an recession hit them badly. It was again hit during the Covid 19 pandemic when income levels went down all over the world. Clearly the man with a skill with numbers will have his financial plate full in the years ahead.
