U.S. Still the Holy See's Top Source of Funding

The Catholic Church in the United States continues to be the Holy See's greatest source of funding, a Vatican official has said. U.S. dioceses, as well as those in the rest of the world, contribute to the financing of the Holy See, as established by Canon 1271 of the Code of Canon Law.

However Vatican finances are in the red for the third year in a row. Cardinal Sergio Sebastiani and Bishop Franco Croci, president and secretary of the Prefecture of the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, presented in the Vatican press office the Consolidated Financial Statement of the Holy See for the Fiscal Year 2003, which shows a deficit of some $11.8 million. The highest deficit reported by the Vatican occurred in 1991, which saw a deficit of $86 million.

The 2003 Consolidated Financial Statement for the Holy See showed a deficit of $11,840,196 (Euro 9,569,456). Income totaled $251,776,543 (E203,659,498) and expenses amounted to $263,732,738 (E213,228,954).

Between 1993 and 2000 the Holy See closed its financial statements in the black, after John Paul II convoked the presidents of the bishops' conferences worldwide in 1991 to promote the implementation of Canon 1271 of the Code of Canon Law.

Can. 1271 states: By reason of their bond of unity and charity, and according to the resources of their dioceses, Bishops are to join together to produce those means which the Apostolic See may from time to time need to exercise properly its service of the universal Church.

With that meeting, 23 years of deficit ended.

Religious, Catholic foundations and faithful worldwide also contribute to the financing of the Roman Curia, whose services do not generate direct financial revenues. There are 2,674 people who work in the Roman Curia: 755 ecclesiastics, 344 religious and 1,575 lay people. There are about 1,000 retired persons.

Given that the Vatican belongs to the monetary zone of the euro, and that a good part of its contributions are in dollars, the devaluation of the dollar against the European currency has had a negative effect, Cardinal Sebastiani said.

There is one major oversight body for all the Vatican's financial operations, the 15-member "Council of Cardinals for the Study of the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See." Its members are Cardinals Joachim Meisner, Bernard Francis Law, Jose Freire Falcao, Roger Michael Mahony, Camillo Ruini, Jean-Claude Turcotte, Ricardo Maria Carles Gordo, Ivan Dias, Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and Edward Michael Egan.

In early July, the council met to review the Vatican's latest deficit figures and suggest ways to resolve the problem. Among those participating was Cardinal Bernard F. Law, who remained a member of the council after he resigned as archbishop of Boston in 2002. His former archdiocese, the epicenter of the sexual abuse crisis, is now struggling with the financial consequences of settlements of more than $120 million.

The Cardinal denied press reports claiming that U.S. contributions have fallen in the wake of the clerical sex abuse scandals.

"In the past year there has been no decrease in the contributions from the United States, which are always in first place in the offerings," Cardinal Sebastiani said.

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