Pope withdraws free or cheap housing for religious and senior officials

Pope Francis has ordered the abolition of free or economic rental of houses belonging to the Holy See to cardinals, bishops and other senior leaders in the Vatican, several media outlets reported Wednesday.

The pope’s decision came on Feb. 13 after an audience with the new prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for Economics, Spaniard Maximino Caballero.

On this occasion, Francis asked “that more resources be allocated and set aside for the Apostolic See, also increasing revenues from property management,” says the document published by the Messainlatino.it portal.

The pope therefore decided “to grant free and advantageous accommodation to cardinals, heads of departments, presidents, secretaries, undersecretaries, executives, auditors and others, of the Tribunal of Rome Rota, of buildings belonging to curial institutions and of bodies belonging to the Holy Spirit, abolish.” See,” the document underlined.

“The bodies owning (property) must apply for the above subjects the same prices as those that do not own property in the Holy See or in the Vatican City,” the document said.

This also specifies the need to pay, according to the existing rates, accommodation in the “Domus Santa Marta”, the residence in the Vatican where the Pope lives and which many prelates, but also visitors, sometimes use as a hotel without paying.

The document states that the current contracts will run until their end and then the new rents will be applied.

Likewise, the Pope has decreed that any amendment to this Ordinance must be directly approved by him.

Also in the document, the pope abolishes “housing contributions”, allowances paid to cover income.

The Holy See real estate managed by APSA in Italy consists of 4,051 properties in the country and about 1,120 abroad, not counting embassies.

In Italy, the Vatican owns about 1.6 million square meters and only 15 percent is earmarked for the free market, 30 percent of which are subsidized rents for workers, pensioners and other forms of assistance, and the remaining 55 percent for institutional or free loans. basis, such as for schools or universities.