The prefect of the Vatican Economics Secretariat has warned that the Holy See is facing a recurring budget deficit of €40 to €50 million ($42 to $52 million) a year.
Maximino Caballero Ledo, the Spanish layman who was appointed last year to head the Vatican’s Economics Secretariat, said that cost-cutting measures alone will not suffice to balance the budget. To rely simply on budget cuts, he said, would mean “we have to close 42 of the 53 entities of the Roman Curia. That is impossible.”
Caballero—who held several leading positions in the American corporate world before taking his current post—said that the Vatican must find ways to bring in more revenue in order to balance the budget. In recent years donations have failed to keep pace with inflation, and the Vatican has been forced to dip continually into reserves.