The choice of the first American Pope has nothing casual in it

Sinodal Church, blessing of gay marriages, sacraments for divorced, celibacy, deacons women … the first hours of the pontificate of Robert Francis Prevost (Now and for eternity, Leo XIV) have been marked by The debate The elucubrations on their ideological coordinates and to what extent it will advance or put the reverse in the measures promoted by Francisco I. Beyond religious issues, the new Pope has before him another cyclopean task of a much more mundane nature: to replace The huge financial mess in which the Vatican is plunged and in which The powerful church The US can play a key role.

The task is not less if they are taken into account open wounds With the most conservative sector of the American Church during the Pontificate of Francisco I. In his favor, Leo XIV has an important factor: he knows the country well, its culture and its prelates. After all, he was born in The Bronzeville neighborhoodin Chicago

Question of faith (and money). The Vatican is the heart of Catholic Christianity, but also a complex and prone economic challenge with which Francisco I had to deal during his 12 years of pontificate, just as he will have to do it from now on León XIV. Although the Roman Catholic Church handles a lavish portfolio of real estate, art and investments and the Vatican bank manages assets by value of value of value of billions of dollarsthe Holy See Receive income basically from Three sources: Donations, entries to museums and investments and the performance obtained with its property portfolio.

The picture is complex, but usually all “Task lists” which must assume Leo XIV include two priorities: to advance in the improvement of the supervision and transparency of finance initiated by Francisco I and face the deficit of the Holy See. In An article entitled “The financial mess of the Vatican that Francisco could not solve”, Wall Street Journal (WSJ) slides two revealing data on an “more and more indebted microstate”: its budget deficit has grown with Bergoglio and Your pension fund supports A millionaire liabilities.

Red numbers in Rome. The theme has been very present these weeks in Rome. And it is logical. In September Francisco sent A letter to their cardinals in which they asked them “greater effort” to “that the ‘zero deficit’ is not just a theoretical objective” and advocated the “cost reduction”. In another posterior letter Bergoglio went further and faced another fundamental issue, the delicate health of the Vatican pension box. All this between news of the Salary cut of the prelates or information that have come to place the Holy See “On the verge of bankruptcy”.

Last summer the newspaper The repudica revealed That in 2023 the Vatican registered an operational deficit of 83 million euros, five more than the previous year, with a short -term perspective not especially flattering given the evolution of donations. As for the pension system hole, over the last months different data has been published, but they are not usually flattering: The Pilar Calculate that a decade ago its undefined liabilities amounted to almost 1.5 billion euros and Reuters talks about a deficit of 631 million In 2022.

In search of donations. In addition to seeking greater transparency and supervision in finance, Francisco proposed Another challenge Before dying: achieve more donations. In fact, days before he entered the hospital, he ordered the creation of a “donation commission for the Holy See.” The movement is understandable. The income received by the Holy See through its museum network suffered a varapalo with the pandemic and in 2024, according to Reutersthe Vatican reported a profits of 45.9 million with their investments.

The other crucial leg in the financial architecture of the Holy See are donations, which throughout the last decade have remained on average in the 45 million euros Annual, although some year that figure has come to exceed 70 million. His contribution to the Vatican coffers is fundamental. According to the data provided by the Vatican in 2023 the bottom of the San Pedro Obol It reached an income of 52 million euros, of which 48.4 correspond to offerings and the remaining 3.6 to financial income achieved with the remuneration of goods.

Two data: 52 and 109.4. In The statement Shared by Vatican News, the information portal of the Holy See, it is underlined that compared to 2022 donations increased by almost five million euros, but that does not prevent the balance sheet from being bittersweet: the agency itself recognizes that the total expenses were much superior and amounted to 109.4 million euros.

The data is interesting for several reasons. The first, because the background is dedicated to meet the needs of the Church and sustain initiatives. The second is because that deficit is not new and is added to the one already registered in previous exercises. In addition, although between 2022 and 2023 there was effectively an increase in donations, the obolus remains below the proceeds Just a decade ago.

A crucial country: USA. The statement From the Vatican slides another important fact: most of these funds left diocese (31.2 million), well above the flow of private donors (2.1 million), foundations (13.9) or religious orders (1,2). What countries left the contributions? Because largely from the United States, from afar the greatest benefactor, with a contribution that in 2023 amounted to the 13.6 million euros28.1% of total income. Italy, secondly, contributed 3.1 million, and Brazil was the third with 1.9.

Why that weight? Partly because the US is one of the countries with greater Catholic population from the world and its church has a strong financial muscle, which has conferred an influential role in the Church .. in September 2015, when Francisco had just two years of papacy, BBC I slipped now that the US parishes collected through Sunday donations about 8.5 billion euros per year. A good part of that money stays in the communities themselves, but still Jack Ruhl, professor at Western Michigan University, highlights the “important role” played by the US church in the global church.

In An analysis Posted in 2012 The Economist He even went further with a fact that helps to better understand the US weight in the architecture of the Vatican: “The American church can represent up to 60% of the institution’s world wealth. It is not surprising, therefore, that he is the largest taxpayer to the central headquarters (ahead of Germany, Italy and France). Everything, from the renovations of the Basilica of San Pedro in Rome to the Pontifical Gregor The Ecclesiastical version of West Point, is largely paid with US money. “

The (another) Great Prevost Challenge. With that backdrop, Robert Prevost, Chicaguense de Cuna, faces a double challenge: heal as far as possible the Vatican’s finances with an eye on the powerful (and influential) church of his native homeland. The first will not be simple. To achieve the second to Leo XIV, he will have to file roughness between the Vatican and the prelates of the most conservative sign, than In recent years They have starred Sounds encounters With Francisco. As a backdrop is The fall of charitable donations in the country and Rage of conservatism led by Trump and Vance.

Interestingly (or not) the preparation of the conclave has coincided with the “American Week”, the fund of fundraising for the Catholic Church led by Americans and that is usually held every year after Easter. “This room could raise one billion to help the Church. As long as we have the appropriate Pope,” slid During one of the meetings held in a hotel in Rome an anonymous “vip guest” cited by The Times. Time will say whether Leo XIV achieves or not connect with US donations to help Maltrechas finance of the Vatican. For now in his favor he has a valuable emotional factor: his crib.

Images | FLAKE IMAGE DEPARTMENT (Flickr) 1 and 2

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