VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican has registered one of its
worst budget deficits in years, plunging back into the red with a (EURO)15
million ($19 million) deficit in 2011 after a brief respite of profit.
The Vatican on Thursday blamed the poor outcome on high
personnel and communications costs and adverse market conditions, particularly
for its real estate holdings.
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Double Spiral Staircase, exit of Vatican Museum |
Not even a (EURO)50 million gift to the pope from the
Vatican bank and increased donations from dioceses and religious orders could
offset the expenses and poor investment returns, the Vatican said in its annual
financial report.
The Vatican said it ran a (EURO)14.9 million deficit in 2011
after posting a surplus of (EURO)9.85 million in 2010. The 2010 surplus,
however, was something of an anomaly. In 2009 the Vatican ran a deficit of
(EURO)4.01 million, in 2008 the deficit was (EURO)0.9 million and in 2007 it was
nearly (EURO)9.1 million.
The Vatican city state, which mainly manages the Vatican
Museums and is a separate and autonomous administration, managed a budget
surplus of (EURO)21.8 million. That's largely due to a spike in revenue from the
museums: More than five million people visited the Sistine Chapel and other
works of art in the Vatican museums last year, bringing in (EURO)91.3 million in
2011 compared to (EURO)82.4 million a year earlier.
And the Vatican could also cheer that donations from the
faithful were also up last year despite the global economic crisis: Donations
from Peter's Pence, which are donations from the faithful to support the pope's
charity works, rose from $67.7 million in 2010 to $69.7 million last year. That
money, however, doesn't figure into the Vatican's operating budget, though
contributions from dioceses, religious orders and the Vatican bank do.
The Vatican bank, known as the Institute for Religious
Works, is able to make such a big contribution to the Vatican's budget each year
based on investments.
Draining the Vatican's finances were the high costs for its
main job of spreading the faith via Vatican media: Vatican Radio, the Vatican
newspaper L'Osservatore Romano and Vatican television all have significant
expenses and little or nothing in the way of revenue. Vatican Radio, however, is
expected to save hundreds of thousands of euros a year in energy costs each year
after it cut back short and medium-wave transmissions to Europe and the United
States from its main transmission point in Rome.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi, who runs the Vatican radio and
television departments and is also the Vatican spokesman, stressed that layoffs
among the 2,832 Holy See personnel aren't in the offing, although he
acknowledged that savings must come from elsewhere.
During the meeting of cardinals who oversee the Vatican's
finances this week, he said, there was a "request for prudence and savings."
"I'm not an expert," he said of the deficit. "Yes, it's
bigger than in past years, it's true." But he noted that the amounts on a global
scale aren't alarming. "Certainly they indicate a need to pay attention and see
the criteria the Vatican's assets are administered."
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