The Vatican first published large portions of its holdings, which were found to amount to more than 5,000 properties in several exclusive areas.
In two documents out of a total of 50 pages, the Vatican presents many new data about its extensive assets, which include more than 4,000 buildings in Italy and more than 1,100 abroad, not counting Vatican embassies worldwide.
Many properties are located in exclusive areas of London, Geneva, Lausanne and Paris.
The property consists of 40 percent of institutes such as schools, monasteries and hospitals. Roughly 86 percent of all real estate is rented out at cheap rates, especially to employees in the church service.
On the other hand, in recent years, a budget deficit equivalent to hundreds of millions of kroner has been recorded and the gap has been filled with money from “Peterspenningen”, a fund consisting of public donations.
The publication of the Vatican’s budget coincides with a high-profile trial of a serious economic crime against ten people, including an Italian cardinal, which begins next week.
The charges include embezzlement, money laundering, fraud and extortion linked to the Vatican’s purchase of luxury property in London in 2014.
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