The Vatican publishes for the first time the list of real estate, owns over 5 thousand properties

The Vatican has published for the first time information about its real estate properties, revealing that it owns more than 5,000 properties, as part of the most detailed financial revelations ever.

The information released this Saturday was included in two documents - a consolidated financial statement for 2020 for the Holy See and the first public budget for the Apostolic See Heritage Administration (Apsa).

Apsa, a type of general accounting office, manages real estate and investments, pays salaries and acts as a purchasing office and human resources department.

Between two documents - each with an unprecedented number of charts, graphs and maps - and two explanatory interviews, the Vatican released more than 50 pages of financial material.

The 30-page Apsa budget showed that it owns 4,051 properties in Italy and about 1,120 abroad, not including its embassies around the world.

Only about 14% of its Italian properties were rented at market rates, while the rest were rented at low rates, much to the church staff. About 40% were institutional buildings such as schools, monasteries and hospitals.

The documentation showed that Apsa owns properties as investments in market areas of London, Geneva, Lausanne and Paris.

A building, in South Kensington, London, led to huge losses after it was bought by the Vatican Secretary of State as an investment in 2014.

On Tuesday, the trial of 10 people in connection with his purchase, including the prominent cardinal Angelo Becciu, begins in the Vatican. They are charged with financial crimes including embezzlement, money laundering, fraud, extortion and abuse of office.

Father Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, head of the Vatican Secretariat for Economy (SPE), told the official Vatican News website that the building would be sold soon.

Ai tha se gjyqi do të ishte një "pikë kthese" në besueshmërinë e Vatikanit në çështjet ekonomike dhe se një ngjarje e ngjashme nuk mund të përsëritet për shkak të masave të vendosura që atëherë.

Vitin e kaluar, Papa Françesku hoqi sekretariatin e Shtetit të kontrollit mbi fondet e tij, duke i transferuar ato në Apsa dhe me mbikëqyrjen nga SPE.

Një pasqyrë e veçantë e konsoliduar financiare për Selinë e Shenjtë lëshuar këtë të Shtunë tregoi një deficit prej 64.8 milion € (£ 55 milion) në vitin 2020, nga një deficit prej 79.2 milion € në 2019.

Buxheti i Selisë së Shenjtë përfshin administratën qendrore të kishës Katolike Romake, të njohur si Curia, që mbikëqyr qeverisjen e kishës në mbarë botën me 1.3 miliardë anëtarë, përfaqësimet e saj globale diplomatike dhe operacionet e medias.

The Vatican City, including the Vatican Museums and the Vatican Bank, has a special budget.

To close the 2020 deficit, about € 50 million was received from Peter's Pence, a donation fund to help the pope carry out church work around the world.

The Covid-19 pandemic hit the Vatican's revenue hard in 2020. St. Peter's Basilica and Vatican museums, the latter had about 6 million visitors paying in 2019, were closed or only partially opened for most of year 2020.

Source: The Guardian