Budget statements for 2014 give most accurate picture of Vatican financial affairs

July 16, 2015

The Vatican has released financial statements for the year 2014, providing what Cardinal George Pell, the prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, described as the most accurate accounting ever offered for the Vatican’s financial position.

The statements released on July 16 were prepared under the new accounting rules put in place under Cardinal Pell’s leadership, with the expenditures of all Vatican offices carefully recorded and audited. The statements for 2014 showed over $1 billion in assets that had previously been kept off the books in various accounts held by different dicasteries.

The figures for 2014 showed a deficit of of €25.6 million ($27.9 million). On paper that was an increase from the previous year’s deficit of €24.5 million. However the Vatican observed that if the 2013 figures had been prepared using the accounting standards that are now in place, the deficit for that year would have been recorded as €37.2 million. The Secretariat for the Economy reported that the 2015 budget is likely to show a deficit as well.

The report showed a strong improvement in revenues for the Vatican, which was attributed to “favorable movements in investments held by the Holy See.” And the Vatican city-state, which maintains a separate budget, showed a healthy surplus of €63.5 million ($69), which reflected a boost in revenues from the Vatican Museums.

Cardinal Pell told the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore that the financial reforms at the Vatican are “irreversible,” although he acknowledged that “pockets of resistance” still exist. The July 16 statement from the Vatican indicated that the process of converting all Vatican accounts to the new financial standards may take several years.

 

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Further information:

• Consolidated statements for the Holy See and financial statements for the Governorate of Vatican City State (VIS)
• Vatican Releases Financial Statements (Wall Street Journal)
• Vatican had more than a billion euros off books before financial clean-up (Reuters)
• Holy See publishes its Financial Statements: Net assets increase by almost a billion (Vatican Insider)