Pope Francis creates a new organism to raise funds

Pope Francis created on Wednesday, February 26 Commission of Donations for Saint Sita (Commission of donations to the Holy See), a new body to raise funds.

“His specific task will be to encourage donations with specific campaigns among the faithful, episcopal conferences and other potential benefactors,” is reported in the chirographer, which has been announced this Wednesday, through which Pope Francis erected this new entity.

On the other hand, it is also intended to “raise funds from volunteer donors for specific projects presented by the institutions of the Roman curia and the government of the state of the city of the Vatican”, reads in the text.

To do this, the importance of these funds “for the mission and for the charity works of the Apostolic Headquarters” will be underlined.

The commission will work to the experiment (Test) over the next three years, that is, with a limited approval to those 36 months, according to the statute validated by the Holy Father.

The situation of the Obolo of San Pedro, with years of descent in donations has also influenced the decision of Pope Francis to seek alternative financing roads.

The traditional collection For this Fund for the Charity and Service of the Pope to the Universal Church, it is held regularly on June 29, feast of San Pedro and San Pablo.

In 2023, the last year of which there are data, 48.4 million euros were collected compared to 43.5 of the previous year, according to the Secretariat for the Vatican economy, which is responsible for supervising the balance sheets and balances and the budgets and monitor that it blocks accounting.

The donations added 3.6 million assets income. However, its expenses were 109.4 million euros.

However, last year’s data was positive in the sense that the increase in donations came after several years of descent.

According to informa Vatican News, the Commission will have the function of being “coordination tool of other fundraising modalities, institutionalized or not, such as contributions in accordance with Canon 1271 or the San Pedro Obolo”.

It is composed of five members, although it has been warned that it can reach six: Roberto Campisi, advisor for general matters of the Secretary of State, who presides over it; Archbishop Flavio Pace, secretary of the Dicasterio for the promotion of the unity of Christians; Alessandra Smerilli, Secretary of Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development; Silvana Piro, Undersecretary of the Administration of the Heritage of the Apostolic Headquarters, and Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, Undersecretary General of the Government of the State of the city of the Vatican.

83.5 million deficit

The measure of the creation of this new organism to raise funds is also taken “considering the current economic situation”, as explained in the chirographer, of the finance of the Holy See that are in an economic deficit situation.

According to the last balance published in 2023, its expenses exceeded the income at 83.5 million euros, which is an mismatch of about five million more than the previous year.

In this sense, the fight against deficit is one of the main economic battles of the Holy See at this time.

Under this premise, in September the Holy Father sent a letter to the Cardinal College in which he underlined the need to achieve a “zero deficit” in the economic management of the Holy See. Thus he asked all the offices and dicasters to eliminate “the superfluous” and be like “good families” so that branches with surplus help to cover the losses of others.

The following month, in October, the Vatican announced a salary reduction for the cardinals of the curia. Then Pope Francis went back to them in another letter, in which he recognized that the Vatican pension system “is currently unable to guarantee its compliance for future generations.”

Given this scenario, he appointed the Irish cardinal Kevin Farrell as the sole administrator of the pension fund.