(July 05, 2012) The budget of the Holy See for 2011 has reported a deficit of nearly
€15 million, a shortfall that was offset by a surplus of over €21 million in the budget
of Vatican City for the same period. The Vatican’s budget deals separately with that
of the Holy See, which includes offices of the Roman Curia, the Vatican diplomatic
missions around the world, Vatican media outlets and Vatican investments; and that
of Vatican City State, which includes the Vatican Museums and other entities. A summary
report, following a July 3-4 meeting of the Council of Cardinals for the Study of
the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See, said the shortfall in the
Holy See’s budget was € 14.8 million. This was due to the salaries of its 2,832 employees
and the maintenance cost the communications media, a situation which was compounded
by poor returns from Holy See’s investments due to the global economic crisis. On
the other hand, the budget of Vatican City, which employs 1,887 people, registered
a surplus of € 21.8 million, particularly buoyed up by revenue from the Vatican Museums,
which rose from €82.4 million in 2010 to €91.3 million from more than 5 million visitors
in 2011. Meanwhile, “Peter's Pence”, which is the contribution of faithful to the
Pope’s charity, rose from $67.7 million in 2010 to $ 69.7 million in 2011. The Vatican
bank, officially called the Institute for Works of Religion, contributed €49 million
to the Pope’s apostolic and charitable ministry. There were also substantial increases
in contributions from dioceses and religious congregations and institutes around the
world in 2011.