Pope celebrates his 71st birthday but it’s Vatican employees who get the gift
- On Monday, September 14, Pope Leo XIV celebrated his 71st birthday by issuing a decree repealing salary cuts imposed by Pope Francis during the COVID-19 pandemic. The reversal affects cardinals, office heads, and lower-ranking staff.
- Pope Francis had implemented the unpopular 10% pay cuts to address a structural deficit of around 70 million euros and a 1 billion euro pension fund shortfall. The Vatican faced severe revenue losses when museums closed for months during the pandemic.
- Leo, an Augustinian math major, stated the Holy See can now ensure economic sustainability. He noted the Vatican's financial situation was not as dire as initially feared after his election.
- In a separate decree Monday, Leo canceled plans to move secret archives to a pontifical university across town. Instead, he ordered construction of a new building within Vatican City to house ancient manuscripts and archival collections.
- Visiting the Vatican Apostolic Library Monday, Leo inaugurated an exhibition on water, the first installment in a five-year cycle entitled 'Catastrophe and Marvel.' The Pope has emphasized peace more than 400 times during his first year.
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For His Birthday, Leo Reverses Vatican Pay Cuts
Pope Leo XIV celebrated his 71st birthday on Monday but it was Vatican employees who got the gift. The Vatican published a papal decree repealing 2021 salary cuts that Pope Francis had imposed on many Vatican employees as part of the Holy See's VOCID-19 cost-saving measures. In the decree, Leo...
He abrogated the cuts made by his predecessor during the pandemic and again raised his salary to the senior officials of the Vatican central administration; he also decided to expand the Library and the Archive.
There was also a birthday cake and a bottle of sparkling wine waiting for Pope Leo this morning at the Vatican Apostolic Library, where he inaugurated the exhibition "Aqva." Catastrophe and Wonder. Prevost extinguished a symbolic candle at the end of his visit, on the occasion of which he met the staff of the Library and that of the Apostolic Archive. "I would just like to say that God in his Providence, and sometimes with a certain humor, alway…
Pope Leo XIV restores Vatican pay cuts on his 71st birthday
Pope Leo XIV marked his 71st birthday by ending Vatican salary cuts and reversing an archive relocation plan. The twin decrees signalled a broader willingness to revisit Pope Francis-era financial and administrative decisions.
(Rome=Yonhap News) Correspondent Min Kyung-rak = Pope Leo XIV, celebrating his 71st birthday, reverses the clergy salary cuts implemented since the COVID-19 pandemic...
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