For the first time in its history, the Vatican released detailed disclosure forms Saturday showingthe Holy Seeownsmore than 5,000 properties worldwide. The move comesahead of a major trial that is set to openin Vatican City next week and involvesa London investment deal gone awry. Ten have been charged with financial crimes, including a prominent cardinal.
The 2020 budget of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA), which manages Vatican properties and investments, showed the Vatican owns 4,051 properties in Italy and1,120 globally includingin London, Paris, Geneva, and Lausanne – many as investments in posh districts.
What is the trial about?
The process revolves around a former Harrods warehouse in the London neighborhood of South Kensington, which had beenpurchased to be converted into luxury apartments.Charges include embezzlement, money laundering, fraud, extortion, and abuse of office.
The Vatican's Secretariat of State bought the building more than ten years ago, resulting in a huge financial loss. As a result, Pope Francis transferred control of the Vatican's investments to APSA.
Father Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, chief of the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy, told Reuters the building would be sold soon and the process was a "turning point" for how the Vatican handled its finances.
"We come from a culture of secrecy, but we have learned that in economic matters transparency protects us more than secrecy," he said.
Due to the pandemic, in 2020 the Vatican cut expenses and focused on meeting salaries, on providing funds for churches and on charity. To save money, the Vatican cut events and activities by 75% and tightened the budgets for its diplomats globally.
While the disclosures were extensive, they failed to include budgets for Vatican City and the Vatican Bank, as well as museums in the city state.
Last year, the Vatican had a budget shortfall of €66.3 million ($78 million), which was better than the €68 million ($80 million) to €146 million ($172 million) previously projected.
About €50 million ($59 million) of the Vatican's operating budget came from Peter's Pence, a fund solicited from Catholic parishioners to provide for Vatican charities that the Vatican can also draw from to keep its bureaucracy running. The Catholic Church manages religious affairs of 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide.
Of the properties the Vatican across the globe, 14% are rented at market rates to fund the Vatican and its charity work while the rest are either rented below market or used by Catholic cardinals or current and retired Vatican officials.
The Vatican has revealed its worldwide property holdings, but did not include budgets for Vatican City, the Vatican Museums and the Vatican Bank. For the first time in its history, the Vatican released detailed disclosure forms Saturday showing the Holy See owns more than 5,000 properties worldwide.
Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo, the Gardens of the Villa Cybo, Villa Barberini plus adjacent gardens, the summer estate of the Pontificio Collegio Urbano di Propaganda Fide and the papal farm between the towns of Castel Gandolfo and Albano Laziale (around 55 hectares or 140 acres).
The Catholic church owns a huge amount of property – not only churches and monasteries, but farms and forests. It controls an estimated 177 million acres of land around the world. So the decisions it makes about how to use this land can have a major impact on the climate.
The bank's assets—valued at about $5.6 billion at the end of 2018—consisted of investments and deposits from almost 15,000 account holders. These account holders included Catholic clergy, Vatican employees, and Catholic religious orders around the world.
July 24 (Reuters) - The Vatican released information on its real estate holdings for the first time on Saturday, revealing it owns more than 5,000 properties as part of its most detailed financial disclosures ever.
The largest landowner in the world currently is King Charles III of England. How much land does the Royal Family own? He and the British Royal Family own more than 6,600,000,000 acres of land around the world. They technically own many territories around the globe, amounting to 1/6 of the surface of the planet.
Considering the BOA is a publicly traded company it is quite possible that the Catholic Church owns some amount of shares. If they do it is an inconsequential amount as in less than 5%. Certainly not enough for BOA to be significant to the church nor for the church to be influential to the bank.
It's also one of the wealthiest. The church has vast assets, including billions in real estate and some priceless art, not to mention the Vatican Bank. But its finances are largely secret. Tallying that immense wealth is pretty much impossible, according to experts.
The Vatican economy minister, Father Juan Antonio Guerrero, said the Vatican's total net assets in 2019 were about 4 billion euros, which is believed to be the first time any such figure has been given.
1. EMMERSON FAMILY. The nation's largest private landowners, California's Emmerson family, are a prime example of this trend. Through their Sierra Pacific Industries, the Emmersons increased their landholdings by more than 100 square miles to over 2.4 million acres.
As the largest non-governmental landowner in the world, the Catholic Church has amassed a diverse and global portfolio of parishes, schools, monasteries, cemeteries, hospitals, and more—combining to an estimated 177 million acres.
ROME (AP) — The Vatican recorded a 3 million-euro deficit last year, far less than the 33 million euros projected, but faces an uncertain financial future due to structural problems, an underfunded pension system and other debts, the Holy See said Friday.
Popes usually get paid hendsomely, the current wage he gets is $32,000 on a monthly basis but he refused to get any of that money. Instead, Pope Francis decided to either donate this money to the church, use it to endow a foundation, placed in trust or pass it on to a family member.
The Vatican has released information on its real estate holdings for the first time, revealing it owns more than 5,000 properties, as part of its most detailed financial disclosures ever.
The Vatican on Saturday made public for the first time information about its real estate holdings, revealing that it owns more than 5,100 properties, mainly in Italy. The publication marks one of the most detailed disclosures of Vatican assets ever.
The EU requires all countries entering this pact to be democracies, but the Vatican is ruled by a monarchy, with the Pope acting as the king. The Catholic Church is estimated to be worth about 30 Billion USD.
The Apostolic Palace (Latin: Palatium Apostolicum; Italian: Palazzo Apostolico) is the official residence of the pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and the Vatican Palace.
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