The profit was close to 6 million euros less than what the investments earned in 2021, the bishop said in the annual report of the administration, which is known by its Italian acronym, APSA, and controls most of the Vatican's portfolio, including real estate.

"Transparency of numbers, achievements and defined procedures is one of the tools we have at our disposal to ward off — at least in those who are free of preconceptions — unfounded suspicions regarding the extent of the church's assets, its administration or the fulfilment of the duties of justice, such as payment of due taxes and other tributes," the bishop wrote in his introduction to the 104-page report, which was published in early August.

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While most Vatican offices reduced costs, the Congregations for Eastern Churches and for Evangelization of Peoples significantly increased giving to struggling church communities.

The Vatican said the coronavirus pandemic had a severe negative impact on the Vatican's financial situation, including the deficit in the consolidated budget report for 2020.

Releasing the Vatican consolidate budget report for 2020, Fr Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, prefect of Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, said, "We come from a culture of secrecy, but we have learned that in economic matters transparency protects us more than secrecy."

The coronavirus pandemic "has given us the possibility of being able to provide additional help at a difficult moment for all humanity, thus making the church present in areas with fewer resources to deal with the pandemic," Father Guerrero said.

On the same day, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA), which administers Vatican properties and investments, made a summary of its annual budget public for the first time.

APSA reported 14% of Vatican properties they administer are rented at market rates and fund Vatican work and charity.

The remaining 86% is used by Vatican offices or provides housing for cardinals, Vatican employees and retirees. Most of the latter are rented at below-market rates.

In an interview with Vatican News, Bishop Nunzio Galantino, president of APSA, said making the budget synthesis public was "a step forward in the direction of transparency and sharing."

"The release of the balance sheet is a sign of great respect for all those who, with trust and generosity, have placed and continue to place part of their resources in the hands of the Catholic Church," Bishop Galantino said.

"I harbor a secret hope: I hope that the publication and reading of the numbers and the important notes that accompany them will foster more correct and complete information," he added.

Fr Guerrero does not appear discouraged with the budget deficit. "The budgeted expenses for 2021 are the lowest in the recent history of the Holy See. But the savings have been made without diminishing service to the Pope's mission and protecting the salaries and jobs of employees. The support of the faithful is needed."

"The economic situation was worse, but the mission expanded. This is further proof that the criteria driving the church are not economic," Guerrero concluded.

Sources

Catholic News

Vatican News

Bishop Nunzio Galantino made the comments in response to a book published on Monday by Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, which claims that the Holy See is facing a serious cash shortage, and may soon be unable to meet its ordinary operating expenses.

"There is no threat of collapse or default here. There is only the need for a spending review. And that is what we're doing. I can prove it to you with numbers," Galantino said on Oct. 22. Read more

The secretary-general of the Italian bishops' conference, Bishop Nunzio Galantino, said couples in "irregular matrimonial situations" are still Christians.

Speaking at a national liturgical gathering in Italy on August 27, Bishop Galantino noted Church teaching that those in "an irregular marital situation" cannot receive Holy Communion "because of their condition".

But such couples are often looked at "with prejudice" in the Church, he said.

He discussed how people in irregular relationships can feel this discipline as "very severe, not inclusive" and even "punitive" towards "the difficulties of marital life" or towards their choice to break up a relationship.

"Often many people perceive the Church's attitude as more severe than what it actually is, since they feel the fact they are not admitted to sacraments as an exclusion from ecclesiastical life," the bishop said.

He said that Catholics should recognise that some of the faithful are excessively harsh towards those in irregular relationships and they erroneously see the Church's discipline "as an exclusion of their brothers and sisters".

He said that some of the faithful sometimes look at people in irregular relationships "with a glance full of prejudice, as if their faith and their belonging to the Church was compromised".

"In addition to the burden of their non-admission to the sacraments, there is an unjustified de facto discrimination towards them, as an added price to pay."

"Even these people are Christian faithful, so they are part of the Church and in the eucharistic assembly they are and they must feel at home," the bishop said.

Bishop Galantino said current pastoral guidelines reaffirm Church membership of those in irregular relationships and suggest "paths of ecclesial life" and liturgical participation, even though they cannot receive Holy Communion.

His comments were widely reported in Italian media.

Bishop Galantino, who was appointed to his current position by Pope Francis, has made controversial comments in the past, such as the need for the Church to welcome gays and to consider optional celibacy for the priesthood.

In October, the Vatican will host a synod of bishops to discuss issues facing the modern family.

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Catholic News Agency

Bishop Nunzio Galantino, who is secretary-general of the Italian bishops' conference (CEI), said he wants Church leaders to open their minds on these issues.

"My wish for the Italian Church is that it is able to listen without any taboo to the arguments in favour of married priests, the Eucharist for the divorced, and homosexuality," he told the La Nazione newspaper.

These topics are likely to come up for discussion at the synod of bishops assembly at the Vatican in October.

Bishop Galantino said the Church had invested a lot of its time on issues relating to the sanctity of life, perhaps at the expense of other important issues.

He said: "In the past we have concentrated too much on abortion and euthanasia. It mustn't be this way because in the middle there's real life which is constantly changing."

"I don't identify with the expressionless person who stands outside the abortion clinic reciting their rosary, but with young people, who are still against this practice, but are instead fighting for quality of life, their health, their right to work," the bishop added.

He said he believed the arrival of Pope Francis represented a unique chance to usher in liberal reforms.

"With Pope Francis the Italian Church has an extraordinary opportunity to reposition itself on spiritual moral and cultural beliefs," he said.

Pope Francis appointed Bishop Galantino interim secretary-general of the CEI last December and made the position permanent in April.

Last September, in an interview published in Jesuit outlets, Pope Francis responded to criticism that he did not talk enough about contraception, abortion and gay marriage.

The Pope said the Church's teaching are clear and he agreed with them, but was not necessary to insist on these issues all the time.

"The Church's pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines," he said.

Sources

• The Tablet
• The Telegraph
• Image: Francolo Frano