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Cardinals begin procession to Sistine Chapel for conclave to select new pope
Fox News contributor Jonathan Morris and The Catholic Project executive director Stephen White join ‘America’s Newsroom’ to discuss as the cardinals prepare to choose a new leader for the Catholic Church.
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church does not get paid what many consider a traditional salary. Instead, the Vatican provides for the pontiff’s needs, from housing, food, transportation and other expenses in the form of stipends and allowances.
The Vatican, referred to as “the world’s smallest country,” is sustained by “an economy that relies on a combination of donations, private enterprises, and investments to generate revenue,” according to Investopedia.
Pope Francis declined any sort of salary when he took office in 2013, The Economic Times reported back in February, adding that the pontiff at the time had a net worth of “around $16 million, which includes various assets provided to him as the pope.”
The Vatican’s financial situation has been in peril for years, with its annual operating deficit growing to over $90 million in 2023, according to reports. In November, Pope Francis warned that the Vatican’s pension fund — which provides pensions to employees of the Holy See and Vatican City State — has been facing a “severe prospective imbalance” that “tends to grow over time in the absence of interventions,” according to the Vatican News.
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This photograph shows tourist goods including post cards (R) on stands, with St Peter’s Basilica of The Vatican in the background, in Rome on May 5, 2025. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP)
The governing body of the Vatican, also known as the Holy See, doesn’t provide exact numbers regarding its finances. However, the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook estimated its revenues and expenditures in 2013 notched $315 million and $348 million, respectively.
It generates this money through various avenues. According to the Michigan Journal of Economics, the Holy See generates some of its revenue through Peter’s Pence, which is a term that describes donations collected from Catholics around the world and given to the Pope on an annual basis. This accounts for $27 million each year, with the largest contributions deriving from the United States, Germany and Italy, according to American Magazine.
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Rosary beads depicting Pope Francis were offered for one euro on March 17, 2025, in Vatican City, Vatican. (Christopher Furlong)
A young visitor of a Catholic Church service donates money into a basket handed around in Bavaria, Kaufbeuren, in July 2019. ( Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/picture alliance)
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Vatican and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for more information about how the pope gets paid, but did not immediately hear back.