Vatican reports it's nearly $19 million in the red
Vatican reports it's nearly $19 million in the red If you were seeking confirmation that the current economic crisis really is evil, look no further than the Holy See. The Vatican reported on Thursday …More
Vatican reports it's nearly $19 million in the red
If you were seeking confirmation that the current economic crisis really is evil, look no further than the Holy See.
The Vatican reported on Thursday that its tiny state wasn't spared by the global economic downfall. With its budget deficit hitting $19 million, 2011 was one of the Holy See's worst financial years on record.
With lines for entering Vatican museums and Saint Peter's Basilica consistently as long as the Vatican wall, last year alone tickets for attractions like the Sistine Chapel filled the Vatican's coffers with more than $90 million.
If to that you add the almost $70 million the pope received in charitable donations, it's difficult to believe that the smallest state in the world, with its 0.2-square-miles territory, could ever go in the red.
The sheer cost of employing almost 3,000 people to run the Vatican, its radio and newspaper services, plus the especially bad real estate market affecting some of Italy's most …More
If you were seeking confirmation that the current economic crisis really is evil, look no further than the Holy See.
The Vatican reported on Thursday that its tiny state wasn't spared by the global economic downfall. With its budget deficit hitting $19 million, 2011 was one of the Holy See's worst financial years on record.
With lines for entering Vatican museums and Saint Peter's Basilica consistently as long as the Vatican wall, last year alone tickets for attractions like the Sistine Chapel filled the Vatican's coffers with more than $90 million.
If to that you add the almost $70 million the pope received in charitable donations, it's difficult to believe that the smallest state in the world, with its 0.2-square-miles territory, could ever go in the red.
The sheer cost of employing almost 3,000 people to run the Vatican, its radio and newspaper services, plus the especially bad real estate market affecting some of Italy's most …More
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I think there is a powerful lesson that the Church can teach the world here. This temporal crisis can be resolved easily by the laity. All we need to do is each send a little money -- say, as much as one of our typical coffee-shop purchases -- on a single Sunday, and that's the end of the Vatican's financial deficit.
This would require a small contribution from each, en masse, of course.
If is …More
I think there is a powerful lesson that the Church can teach the world here. This temporal crisis can be resolved easily by the laity. All we need to do is each send a little money -- say, as much as one of our typical coffee-shop purchases -- on a single Sunday, and that's the end of the Vatican's financial deficit.
This would require a small contribution from each, en masse, of course.
If is possible we can solve the financial problem of the Vatican in such a painless and expedient way, could we solve other such problems?
It would of course require the world to trust the fiduciary prudence of the Vatican. But is not the Vatican already well into the business of solving such problems with money?
There must be some real world issues that scuttle the simplicity of this idea. Or is it really this simple? Perhaps someone can educate me.
This would require a small contribution from each, en masse, of course.
If is possible we can solve the financial problem of the Vatican in such a painless and expedient way, could we solve other such problems?
It would of course require the world to trust the fiduciary prudence of the Vatican. But is not the Vatican already well into the business of solving such problems with money?
There must be some real world issues that scuttle the simplicity of this idea. Or is it really this simple? Perhaps someone can educate me.