Pope lowers salaries for cardinals, clergy and nuns in Rome

Vatican CITY. Trying to save jobs as the pandemic hits the revenues of the Vatican, the Pope Francisco on Wednesday ordered pay cuts for cardinals, clergy and nuns who work for the Holy See.

In a decree published in L’Osservatore Romano, Francisco indicated that the cardinals’ salaries will be cut by 10% from April. The rulers of the various divisions of the Holy See, who, with few exceptions, are clergy, will be hit by cuts of 8%, while the cut for lower-ranking priests and nuns will be 3%.

In the decree, the Pope says that the Holy See’s finances are characterized by years of shortages. Francis wrote that, in addition to the financial troubles, the COVID-19 pandemic “has negatively impacted all sources of income for the Holy See and Vatican City.”

Tightening the seat belt “is to save current jobs,” Francisco wrote.

Lower lay workers in the Vatican are not affected by the wage cuts, but their increases, every two years, are temporarily frozen. Lower paid lay people, however, get a raise.

Tourism bans in many countries and other restrictions due to the pandemic have drastically reduced the revenues of the Vatican Museums, which, with its Sistine Chapel, are an eternal moneylender for the Vatican.

The museums are currently closed and will at least remain so for next Easter, which is normally one of the busiest periods for tourism in Rome.

Cardinals, other clergy, and nuns in Rome generally do not have the expenses most laymen have, such as market value rent or mortgages, utility bills, and heating, as many live in Vatican or Vatican residences.

Some cardinals have spacious, well-equipped apartments in historic palaces in Rome. A cardinal who works in the Vatican can earn about 5,000 euros per month ($ 6,000).

In any case, Francisco said, the salary cuts will not be applied to anyone who can demonstrate that the cuts make it “impossible to cover fixed expenses related to their health” or those of close relatives.