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Vatican City knows all about the good book — and balancing its books
Read the article / show / issue that provoked me to write a letter and my response below that or go straight to my response
Date Posted on this Site
July 8, 2007
Publication
National Post
Publication Date
July 4, 2007
Published Content
The world’s smallest country knows how to keep its books in order. The Vatican City posted a budget surplus of $3.4-million in 2006. With 2,704 religious and secular staff to pay, as well as the costs of diplomatic representation around the world, a TV and radio station, a daily newspaper and an Internet site, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church has annual outgoings of $329-million. While it stayed in the black in 2006, its surplus fell from $14 -million in 2005. Income for the Holy See, a separate country in the heart of Rome, comes from contributions from the faithful, investments and real estate holdings. The Vatican said Peter’s Pence, the yearly collection taken in churches worldwide to help finance the Pope’s international charitable works, totalled nearly $108-million in 2006, up from $63-million in 2005.
My Response Letter
It is good news that the Vatican can balance its books, but the real story here is the Pope's yearly collection to fund charitable works nearly doubled from 2005 to 2006. Why is that important? Well, it shows that the current Holy Father has inspired Catholics to act. And it proves that the so-called stodgy, polarizing, conservative Cardinal Ratzinger is not the wedge that the media predicted would drive Catholicism into schism.
Jason Gennaro
Was my response published?
Yes