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Vatican Reveals Property Holdings for the First Time
The Vatican released information on its real estate holdings for the first time revealing it owns more than 5,000 properties as part of its most detailed financial disclosures ever. The information was contained in two documents, a consolidated financial statement for
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Realty Plus
Published - Monday, 26 Jul, 2021
The Vatican released information on its real estate holdings for the first time revealing it owns more than 5,000 properties as part of its most detailed financial disclosures ever. The information was contained in two documents, a consolidated financial statement for 2020 for the Holy See and the first-ever public budget for the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA).
APSA, a sort of general accounting office, manages real estate and investments, pays salaries, and acts as a purchasing office and human resources department. Between the two documents each with an unprecedented number of pie charts, graphs and maps and two explanatory interviews, the Vatican issued more than 50 pages of financial material.
Only about 14% of its Italian properties were rented at market rates, while the others were rented at cut rates, many to Church employees. About 40% were institutional buildings such as schools, convents and hospitals. The documentation showed that APSA owns properties as investments in upscale areas of London, Geneva, Lausanne and Paris. One building, in London's smart South Kensington district, led to enormous losses after it was purchased by the Vatican's Secretariat of State as an investment in 2014.
The Holy See budget includes the central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, known as the Curia that oversees the governing of the 1.3 billion-member worldwide Church, its global diplomatic representations and media operations. Vatican City, including the Vatican Museums and the Vatican bank, has a separate budget. To plug the 2020 deficit, about 50 million euros were taken from Peter's Pence, a fund of donations to help the pope carry out the Church's worldwide work.
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