Pope Leo XIV will give 500 euros conclave bonus to 5,000 Vatican workers

Pope Leo XIV has restored the “Conclave Bonus” granted to Vatican employees for their service during the vacant headquarters period.

Approximately 5,000 employees working for the Roman curia and state institutions – as the Vatican museums, the Vatican Pharmacy, the Vatican Library and Vatican Media – will receive an extra of 500 euros (around 566 dollars stay) in their June payrolls.

The custom of distributing conclave bonds by newly chosen potatoes is considered a gesture of gratitude to the Vatican employees who have worked, often making extra hours, in the weeks after the death of a Pope until the choice of a new one.

Although Pope Leo XIV did not talk about the monetary gift at his audience with several workers of the Holy See and the State earlier this month, he expressed his high esteem by the men and women who form the different “work communities” of the Vatican.

“Working in the Roman curia means contributing to keep the memory of the Apostolic Headquarters alive,” he said at the May 24 meeting. “And, by analogy, this can also be said of the services of the state of the city of the Vatican.”

“Each of you brings your contribution, doing your daily work with commitment and also with faith, because faith and prayer are like salt for food; they give you flavor,” he added.

Among the thousands of workers who will benefit from the monetary gift of Pope Leo XIV, men and women who work in the Vatican bookstore, clothing stores, gas stations and the post office, together with other lay and religious employees of the Holy See.

In 2013, the “Conclave Bonus” tradition was temporarily suspended when Pope Francis was chosen. Instead, he decided to redirect the monetary gift to papal works and welfare institutions as a sign of the Church’s concern for people in need.

Conscious of the discontent meaning by several Vatican employees by retaining the bonus, the then spokesman of the Vatican, Fr. Federico Lombardi, justified the elimination of the bonus because, in the midst of the “difficult general economic situation” of the church-stare, a Pope had not died.

“It did not seem possible or appropriate to load the budgets of the Vatican entities with a considerable extraordinary expense that was not planned,” said Fr. Lombardi in 2013.

Although the employees were left without the expected conclave bonus when Francisco became Pope 12 years ago, several employees with three or more children are benefiting from a monthly bonus of 300 euros (around 339 dollars) approved by the late Pontiff in January 2025.

Under the pontificate of Benedict XVI, a 1,000 euro conclave bonus for the additional work done during the vacant headquarters period after the death of John Paul II in 2005 were granted.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.