Vatican posts rare €1.6M surplus and halves deficit, but lay staff union calls gains “exceptional,” demands full accounts and relief for frozen wages, contracts, pensions.
Newsroom (08/12/2025 Gaudium Press) A modest €1.6 million surplus and a near-halving of the Holy See’s structural deficit have been hailed by Vatican financial officials as evidence of a turning point after years of chronic overspending. Yet the Association of Vatican Lay Employees (ADLV) has greeted the numbers with sharp skepticism, warning that the improved bottom line rests on one-off donations and favorable investment markets rather than lasting reform.
In a Dec. 1 statement, the ADLV declared that many of its members “received the news with skepticism and even greater uncertainty about their fate.” The group criticized the Holy See for releasing only summary slides—“visually appealing” but insufficient for serious analysis—and renewed its call for publication of the complete 2024 budget with line-by-line details and supporting documentation.
The Secretariat for the Economy had announced on Nov. 26 that the Holy See’s structural deficit fell from €83.5 million in 2023 to less than €44.5 million in 2024, while total operating costs reached €1.275 billion (up nearly €40 million year-on-year), and the combined institutions of the Holy See closed the year with a €1.6 million surplus—the first black ink in recent memory.
Beneath the headline figures, however, recurring operational income still trailed budgeted expenses by more than €33 million. The gap was closed primarily by a surge in external donations (whose sources remain undisclosed) and €52 million in realized capital gains from investments sold during the year.
“This result comes from donations and improved financial performance due to favorable market trends over the past two years,” the ADLV statement read. “This is more due to exceptional factors than to the decisions of the new Investment Committee… The budget thus appears positive, but not because of full operational stability. The structural problem remains unresolved.”
The lay employees’ association also questioned whether ordinary staff will see any benefit from the apparent stabilization. Thousands of non-managerial Vatican workers have had biennial contract increments suspended and salary scales frozen since 2008, while rents on Vatican-owned housing have been adjusted for inflation. The ADLV estimates the suspended increments could cost affected employees up to €20,000 over the course of their careers.
“Will this hypothetical situation of greater economic stability also have positive effects on non-managerial staff?” the statement asked. “Will the pay scales that were frozen in 2008 finally be updated?”
Personnel costs rose sharply in 2024, a trend the association suggested “could be linked to higher senior salaries, promotions, new hires, or an increase in the number of managers,” while “most employees have certainly not recovered the loss of purchasing power due to ever-increasing prices.”
The statement further demanded an overhaul of hiring practices and job descriptions to ensure “fair and uniform treatment for all (e.g., same hourly pay and level for the same job)” and renewed long-standing concerns about the Vatican’s underfunded pension system. Although the 2024 report showed a €7.9 million increase in the pension-fund line item, employees still lack access to the fund’s balance sheet and fear the deficit—internally estimated at €1.4 billion as far back as 2014—has continued to grow.
“Can we hope for a job description analysis and a rigorous staff selection process at all levels?” the ADLV asked authorities. “What will happen to our pensions?”
As Pope Francis’s decade-long financial reform effort appears to bear its first surplus, the lay employees who keep the Vatican’s offices, museums, and media operations running say the books remain too opaque—and the sacrifices too one-sided—for celebration.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from The Pillar
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