The Vatican is preparing to cut costs following the closure of its main source of income, the Vatican Museums due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano reported on Wednesday.
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The closure since March 9 of the Vatican museums, which receive around six million visitors a year, represents a serious blow to the finances of the smallest state in the world, the daily explains. The measure was extended until May 3 as a preventive measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and also provides for the closure of the square and St. Peter's Basilica.
According to a document prepared by the President of the Vatican Governorate, Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, to which the Fatto Quotidiano claims to have had access, there are in particular plans for the " drastic reduction in the costs of advice ", the " suspension, where possible, fixed-term contracts ”and the“ promotions and new hires freeze ”. It is also envisaged “ the cessation of overtime, except for essential institutional reasons ”. In addition to Pope Francis, some 70 cardinals, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, 300 members of the diplomatic corps, 50 priests and nuns, as well as the Swiss guards and around fifty employees and their families reside in the Vatican.
The measures to be taken include the cancellation of conferences, exhibitions and congresses planned for 2020, as well as all business trips and property investments. At the request of Pope Francis, a commission of experts has been set up to develop " effective and creative " responses to the challenges posed by the coronavirus worldwide. The commission will consist of five working groups charged with listening to needs and supporting local churches, while another group will reflect on society and the world according to Covid-19. It will be chaired by the prefect of the dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, Cardinal Peter Turkson.
In a letter sent to popular movements around the world on Sunday, the pope proposed " a universal salary for the excluded " because " it is the poor and the excluded who will pay and will pay the heaviest price " for the pandemic, he said. -he writes.