An end to the 10% cut on cardinals’ salaries. Pope Leo has decided to scrap the salary containment measures introduced by Pope Francis in 2021, when the Vatican was grappling with the economic fallout of the pandemic.
The decision comes via a new motu proprio. Leo acknowledges that those measures were necessary to address “the exceptional challenge of the pandemic,” but believes they can now be set aside. The Pontiff stresses, however, that the goal of ensuring the sustainability of the finances of the Holy See and the Vatican City State remains, to be pursued through other means.
The 10% reduction on cardinals’ previous pay, introduced more than five years ago, has therefore been permanently eliminated.
On the same day, Leo also took action on the future of Vatican spaces. The Pope ordered the construction of a new building in the area known as the Fontana dell’Autoparco, intended mainly to meet the needs of the Vatican Apostolic Archive and the Vatican Apostolic Library.
The new structure will have to be built according to modern architectural and technological standards. To secure and manage the resources needed for the project, the Archive and Library will also be required to establish a dedicated Vatican foundation.
