[ad_1]
Pope Francis announced that due to the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic he will reduce the salaries of cardinals and religious who serve in the Vatican, the seat of the Catholic ruling class. Starting April 1, cardinals’ salaries, estimated at around 5,000 euros a month, will be cut by 10 percent, while lower-ranking officials and religious will suffer minor cuts.
The reductions will hardly put the cardinals and religious in difficulties, who in most cases live in apartments owned by the Church or granted privately with subsidized rent. A Vatican spokesman specified a Reuters that the pay cut will not affect most non-religious employees.
In the text containing the new measure, Pope Francis explained that the pandemic “had a negative impact on all sources of income for the Holy See and the Vatican City State,” that is, especially offers and donations. of the faithful and tickets. to the Vatican Museums. Already in 2020 the Vatican had been severely hit by the economic crisis, so much so that it had to resort to its reserve funds to avoid closing the year in deficit. It will likely have to do so in 2021 as well, given that, according to a recent internal estimate, revenue will drop 30 percent compared to 2020.
[ad_2]
