Pope Francis creates Vatican task force to tackle financial crisis

A task force initiative announced this week – but signed off by Francis on February 11, before he was hospitalised – reveals the extent of the Vatican’s financial problems.

Pope Francis has instructed staff get to grips with a cash crisis at the Vatican. Picture: Alessia Giuliani/Catholic Press Photo/Splash/The Times

The Pope has created a Vatican task force to urge believers to give more money as the Catholic Church tackles a cashflow crisis.

Announced this week but signed off by Francis on February 11, three days before he was admitted to hospital with pneumonia, the initiative reveals the extent of the Vatican’s financial worries.

Staffed by a priest, an archbishop, two nuns and a lawyer, the task force will “encourage donations with special campaigns among the faithful, bishops’ conferences, and other potential benefactors,” the Pope wrote.

The Vatican said on Thursday that the Pope’s health continued to improve and he could work. A source added that his condition was now considered “complex” rather than “critical”.

After 14 days in hospital, Francis, 88, is still on high-flow oxygen but can use a mask as well as a nasal tube. Doctors are still unwilling to make predictions about his recovery, however. The Vatican said: “Considering the complexity of the clinical situation, further days of clinical stability will be needed.”

The Vatican reported a deficit of €45.8 million in 2022 – the last time it released its full financial data – as costs outstripped donations and it faced compensation payments and legal costs from sexual abuse scandals and a bungled London property investment.

Cardinals opposed measures proposed by the Pope, including cutting staff pay and ending subsidised Vatican flats for senior clergy.

Ed Condon, editor of The Pillar, a Catholic news site, said: “The Vatican is facing a very real liquidity crisis and while the Pope has been cutting costs, no one has been put in charge of making money until now.” He added that a Vatican official had likened previous measures to “trimming the catering budget on the Titanic”.

Francis on February 14, the day he was taken to hospital with breathing difficulties. Picture: Simone Risoluti/Reuters/The Times

In November, the Pope brought in the Irish-American cardinal Kevin Farrell to rescue the pension scheme for the Vatican’s 4500 staff. The Vatican had failed to follow advice to raise the retirement age, according to a source familiar with its finances.

Condon said: “It was a real sign of panic when they admitted they couldn’t meet pension obligations. When a 2016 audit found a pension deficit of €900 million, Vatican administrators called the findings alarmist, claiming it was ‘only’ €600 million.”

Donations to the church stood at €52 million in 2023 but are unlikely to rise enough to meet the Vatican’s growing costs, the source said, adding: “People are less inclined to donate and it’s down to the sex abuse scandals in the church and also due to [the London property scandal].”

A bungled investment in a luxury London property cost the church €100 million and made headlines thanks to a fraud trial. The building was one of 5000 properties the Vatican has been accused of managing ineptly. Only a fifth generate any revenue.

St Peter’s Square is a draw for tourists and the Catholic faithful. Picture: Reuters

Condon said: “A decade ago, the Vatican was being advised to generate rent from disused sites and undeveloped land it owned, but there was no appetite – the proposals were put in a drawer.”

The Vatican’s museums, which include the Sistine Chapel, have long been a big source of revenue but the Covid-19 lockdowns from 2020 to 2022 put a dent in the accounts.

Condon said there was not much left to cut. “Many departments operate on a shoestring,” he said. “The doctrinal office costs €3 million a year to run – not bad given it oversees a church of 1.4 billion Catholics.”

A Vatican employee told The Pillar: “The global church isn’t shrinking, it’s growing, and so is the work. But the offices aren’t getting bigger, just the piles on our desks.”

Maria Antonietta Calabro, a Vatican specialist at the Huffington Post, said one solution would be to dip into the Vatican’s gold reserves. During the London trial, Alberto Perlasca, a former senior official at the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, revealed that boxes of thousands of gold and silver coins were kept unsecured in the office.

The Times