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Vatican City (AP) —The Vatican City closed 2020 with a deficit of € 66.3 million ($ 78 million), according to figures released on Saturday.
Rev. Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, Vatican’s Minister of Economy, acknowledged a decline in spending on results and a milder than expected decline in income.
The shortfall was narrower than the Vatican’s forecast of € 68 million to € 146 million. It was also less than the € 79.2 million deficit recorded in 2019.
Guerrero said the Vatican City is facing a pandemic to cut costs and focus on essentials such as salaries, difficult churches and assistance to the poor. To save money, the Vatican City has reduced travel and event spending by three-quarters, postponed maintenance and reduced consulting services. Meanwhile, Vatican City diplomats fastened their belts. The tax remained constant at 18.8 million euros.
Revenues were only 5% lower than the pre-pandemic forecast of € 269 million.
“We are waiting to see if this trend will continue in 2021,” Guerrero told the Vatican media.
Donations increased slightly to € 56.2 million ($ 66 million). Still, Guerrero said Peter’s Pence donations made during the annual collection at Mass fell by 18% in 2020. These are claimed as a concrete way to support the Pope’s philanthropy, but they are also used to run the Holy See. Officials. Many churches held a virtual mass in 2020 for a pandemic.
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