Watch: Vatican releases Pope Leo fundraising video amid financial crisis
The one-minute video, shown on giant screens in St. Peter's Square and spread on social media, asked for donations to Peter's Pence - a papal fund used to support church activities and charity work. According to the latest available records, the fund received 48.4 million euros in donations in 2023.
The Vatican has not published a full budget report since 2022, but the last set of accounts included an 83-million-euro shortfall, sources said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
From Gaza to Marrickville: Sydney community comes together to raise funds for mutual aid
Following its May debut, Sydney's Mutual Aid Market returned to Marrickville's Addison Road Community Centre for a second time on 29 June 2025. Organiser Sarah Shaweesh described the 'warm feeling' at the event, where stallholders either raised money for their own mutual aid or for a 'common fund' – where all proceeds went to Palestinian and First Nations mutual aid, with 25% held in reserve for urgent campaigns between markets. Guardian Australia reporter Rafqa Touma visited the market to learn more about how the community is organising practical support from afar
The Sun
7 hours ago
- The Sun
Giant car firm behind 14 brands including Fiat & Peugeot ‘faces closing factories' over EV targets, boss says
THE giant car firm behind 14 brands including Fiat and Peugeot may have to close factories over EV targets, its boss says. European car manufacturers are having to sell more electric vehicles to cut CO2 emissions - or risk crippling penalties. 2 2 Stellantis may have shut some of its factories doors due to the risk of hefty European Union fines for not complying with CO2 emission targets, the chief of the Franco-Italian automaker for Europe said on Tuesday. The automaker industry has successfully lobbied for more time to comply, as fines will be based on 2025-2027 emissions rather than just in 2025. Stellantis' Europe chief Jean-Philippe Imparato slammed the targets, saying they were still unreachable for automakers. He then exposed his company to fines of up to 2.5 billion euros within "two-three years." Speaking at a conference in the lower house of parliament in Rome, he said that without significant changes in the regulatory situation by the end of this year, "we will have to make tough decisions." Stellantis would therefore either have to double its electric vehicle sales, which is impossible, or cut the production of petrol and diesel vehicles, Imparato said. "I have two solutions: either I push like hell (on electric) ... or I close down ICE (internal combustion engine vehicles). And therefore I close down factories," he said, at one point mentioning the Italian van-making plant of Atessa. Meanwhile discussions over the future of Maserati remain ongoing as Stellantis prepared to welcome its new CEO. New CEO Antonio Filosa faces huge financial decisions as a result of President Trump's brutal trade tariffs. Stellantis - which owns 14 brands across the globe - was reported to have hired management consulting firm McKinsey and Co to review the situation. McKinsey was called in April this year to advise on struggling brands Maserati and Alfa Romeo, with both experiencing a dire 2024. Last year, the number of Maserati units sold plunged from 26,600 to just 11,300. Stellanis told Motor1: "McKinsey has been asked to provide its considerations regarding the recently announced U.S. tariffs for Alfa Romeo and Maserati." Trump's new legislation means tariffs of at least 25 percent on anything imported into the US. Maserati has no new model launches scheduled as it waits for a new business plan, with the last one having been put on hold by Stellantis in 2024. The plan is expected to be presented soon after Filosa starts his new role. But as things stand, it is understood that all options remain on the table for the world-renowned Italian brand. It came after the global firm pulled the plug on a £1.3billion investment in Maserati earlier this year. What is Stellantis? Stellantis is the company behind iconic motor brands such as Fiat, Vauxhall and Peugot. The conglomerate, which is the second-largest maker of cars in Europe, owns 14 badges, including Chrysler, Citroen, Jeep and Maserati. The company itself is the product of a merger between Fiat-Chrysler and France's PSA, the maker of Peugeot and Citroen, in 2021. But the motoring giant has encountered increasingly stuttering financial success. And an initial manufacturing break at Stellantis has now been extended as bosses report a collapse in demand for electric cars.
BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
Why the world's superyachts are getting bigger and bigger
Business is booming in the luxury world of superyachts, with the super-rich wanting ever bigger floating Trifirò knows a thing or two about superyachts – she and her husband have owned more than a dozen over the Italian couple, who have made their fortune in law, and continue to run a global legal firm, like to sail around the world in the height of Trifirò describes their boats, which can be more than 50m (164ft) long, as being like floating five-star hotels. And she likes to get involved in the design criteria she insists upon is that the crew have ample kitchen space, so they can cook gourmet meals for up to 15 Trifirò explains her reasoning: "If you are used to eating well, not everywhere [in the world] are there restaurants good enough."She also says that the large size of the vessels is reassuring. "Whether it's sailing alongside humpback whales, or receiving greetings by fishermen on the Fiji islands, my boats allow me to sail… with strength and safety." But what exactly is a superyacht? While there is no official global classification, industry website and magazine Boat International describes one as "a luxury, privately-owned yacht that measures 24 metres or more in length, and is professionally crewed".The magazine says that global sales boomed after Covid. With the super rich suddenly unable to go to luxury hotels, as they were all closed during the pandemic, many switched to superyachts a result, 1,024 new superyachts were built or on order around the world in 2022, a 25% jump from 2021, and a then all-time high, according to Boat International's figures. This then increased to 1,203 in 2023, another new record."After the pandemic people considered their super yachts as safe islands both for themselves and their relatives," says Barbara Armerio who co-owns Italian family-run superyacht builder adds that billionaires cherished their personal space and independence even more. "They asked for bigger windows, more space outside, and to be able to touch the seawater more easily". While the overall number of superyachts being built or ordered is expected to fall slightly this year to 1,138, they are getting bigger on average, Boat International's data also shows. So far this year, 61 boats of 76m or more in length are being made, up from 55 in in the 46m to 60m grouping, numbers have increased to 175 from 159. Meanwhile, sales of the smallest superyachts, between 24m and 27m are down to 286 from 321."It's clear that some of those new clients the industry found in the Covid-19 years are trading up," says Ms International's editor in chief Stewart Campbell says that whatever size superyacht people buy "designers and naval architects are getting very clever at packing ever more volume into hulls, giving owners lots more space on board".As a result, today's superyacht's increasingly have everything from helipads to cinemas, gyms, beauty salons, and saunas. As you'd imagine, prices are extremely high. You can pay €36m ($41m; £30m) for a new smaller boat, up to €295m for a 105m-long vessel with all the optional of all superyachts continue to be built in Italy, with its yards currently working on a combined length of 22,195m, or approximately 22km (13 miles), of boats. Turkey is in second place, followed by the Netherlands, the UK, Taiwan, Germany, the US and in 2023, Italian shipbuilders earned €8.3bn from making superyachts, a record Armerio says her shipyard "produces only a few high-grade" superyachts per year, "masterpieces with unique details".She adds that Italian yacht-makers like hers are supported by a solid network of local artisans. "In Italy we find everything we need."Ms Armerio points to being able to drive to Tuscany's stone quarries from her company's base on the coast of Liguria if she needs to order marble. Regarding the billionaires and multimillionaires who buy superyachts, Boat International says that most are from the US. Yet it points to more coming from Turkey, Indonesia and Mexico as those countries' economies sales to Russian buyers have fallen to due to the sanctions against the country and its elites as a result of Russia's invasion of the appeal of a superyacht wasn't immediately obvious, Ms Trifirò says they enable her to see the world and fulfil her wanderlust. And she likes to be at the controls of the boat."My curiosity to explore new places pushes me to cruise the oceans while in the driver's seat," she Trifirò adds that her crew is paid double what they'd likely earn on land "as it is very important to keep them happy. Our captain has worked for us for 22 years."
