Show me the money: Pope launches Vatican debt campaign
Pope Leo XIV has celebrated a special feast day traditionally used by the Catholic Church to drum up donations from the faithful.
The Vatican under the first American Pope is rolling out a new campaign to urge ordinary Catholics to help bail out the deficit-ridden Holy See.
Leo celebrated Mass in St Peter's Basilica, marking the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul and thanked donors who have contributed, using the language of the publicity campaign to say their financial support was a sign of union with his young pontificate.
In churches around the world, Masses on the July 29 feast day often include a special collection for Peter's Pence, a fund which both underwrites the operations of the central government of the Catholic Church and pays for the Pope's personal acts of charity.
The church is using a promotional video, poster, QR code and website soliciting donations via credit card, PayPal, bank transfer and post office transfer.
The Vatican is betting that an American-style fundraising pitch under the Chicago-born Leo will do more to help keep the Holy See bureaucracy afloat and erase its 50 million to 60 million euro ( $A87 million to $A104 million) structural deficit.
The video features footage of Leo's emotional first moments as Pope, when he stepped out onto the loggia of St Peter's Basilica and later choked up as he received the fisherman's ring of the papacy.
With an evocative soundtrack in the background, the video superimposes a message, available in several languages, urging donations to Leo via the Peter's Pence collection.
"With your donation to Peter's Pence, you support the steps of the Holy Father," it says.
"Help him proclaim the Gospel to the world and extend a hand to our brothers and sisters in need. Support the steps of Pope Leo XIV. Donate to Peter's Pence."
At the end of his noon blessing on Sunday, Leo used the same language about his first steps to say the Peter's Pence fund is "a sign of communion with the Pope and participation with his Apostolic Ministry."
"From the heart, I thank those who with their gifts are supporting my first steps as the successor of St Peter," he said.
The fund has been the source of scandal in recent years, amid revelations the Vatican's secretariat of state mismanaged its holdings through bad investments, incompetent management and waste.
The recent trial over the Vatican's bungled investment in a London property confirmed the vast majority of Peter's Pence contributions had funded the Holy See's budgetary shortfalls, not papal charity initiatives as many parishioners had been led to believe.
On top of the budget deficit, the Vatican is also facing a 1 billion euro (about $A1.78 billion) shortfall in its pension fund that Pope Francis, in the months before he died, warned was unable in the medium term to fulfil its obligations.
Unlike countries, the Holy See doesn't issue bonds or impose income tax on its residents to run its operations, relying instead on donations, investments and revenue generated by the Vatican Museums, and sales of stamps, coins, publications and other initiatives.
For years, the United States has been the greatest source of donations to Peter's Pence, with US Catholics contributing about a quarter of the total each year.
Vatican officials are hoping that under Leo's pontificate, with new financial controls in place and an American math major running the Holy See, donors will be reassured that their money won't be misspent or mismanaged.
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The Advertiser
8 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Show me the money: Pope launches Vatican debt campaign
Pope Leo XIV has celebrated a special feast day traditionally used by the Catholic Church to drum up donations from the faithful. The Vatican under the first American Pope is rolling out a new campaign to urge ordinary Catholics to help bail out the deficit-ridden Holy See. Leo celebrated Mass in St Peter's Basilica, marking the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul and thanked donors who have contributed, using the language of the publicity campaign to say their financial support was a sign of union with his young pontificate. In churches around the world, Masses on the July 29 feast day often include a special collection for Peter's Pence, a fund which both underwrites the operations of the central government of the Catholic Church and pays for the Pope's personal acts of charity. The church is using a promotional video, poster, QR code and website soliciting donations via credit card, PayPal, bank transfer and post office transfer. The Vatican is betting that an American-style fundraising pitch under the Chicago-born Leo will do more to help keep the Holy See bureaucracy afloat and erase its 50 million to 60 million euro ( $A87 million to $A104 million) structural deficit. The video features footage of Leo's emotional first moments as Pope, when he stepped out onto the loggia of St Peter's Basilica and later choked up as he received the fisherman's ring of the papacy. With an evocative soundtrack in the background, the video superimposes a message, available in several languages, urging donations to Leo via the Peter's Pence collection. "With your donation to Peter's Pence, you support the steps of the Holy Father," it says. "Help him proclaim the Gospel to the world and extend a hand to our brothers and sisters in need. Support the steps of Pope Leo XIV. Donate to Peter's Pence." At the end of his noon blessing on Sunday, Leo used the same language about his first steps to say the Peter's Pence fund is "a sign of communion with the Pope and participation with his Apostolic Ministry." "From the heart, I thank those who with their gifts are supporting my first steps as the successor of St Peter," he said. The fund has been the source of scandal in recent years, amid revelations the Vatican's secretariat of state mismanaged its holdings through bad investments, incompetent management and waste. The recent trial over the Vatican's bungled investment in a London property confirmed the vast majority of Peter's Pence contributions had funded the Holy See's budgetary shortfalls, not papal charity initiatives as many parishioners had been led to believe. On top of the budget deficit, the Vatican is also facing a 1 billion euro (about $A1.78 billion) shortfall in its pension fund that Pope Francis, in the months before he died, warned was unable in the medium term to fulfil its obligations. Unlike countries, the Holy See doesn't issue bonds or impose income tax on its residents to run its operations, relying instead on donations, investments and revenue generated by the Vatican Museums, and sales of stamps, coins, publications and other initiatives. For years, the United States has been the greatest source of donations to Peter's Pence, with US Catholics contributing about a quarter of the total each year. Vatican officials are hoping that under Leo's pontificate, with new financial controls in place and an American math major running the Holy See, donors will be reassured that their money won't be misspent or mismanaged. Pope Leo XIV has celebrated a special feast day traditionally used by the Catholic Church to drum up donations from the faithful. The Vatican under the first American Pope is rolling out a new campaign to urge ordinary Catholics to help bail out the deficit-ridden Holy See. Leo celebrated Mass in St Peter's Basilica, marking the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul and thanked donors who have contributed, using the language of the publicity campaign to say their financial support was a sign of union with his young pontificate. In churches around the world, Masses on the July 29 feast day often include a special collection for Peter's Pence, a fund which both underwrites the operations of the central government of the Catholic Church and pays for the Pope's personal acts of charity. The church is using a promotional video, poster, QR code and website soliciting donations via credit card, PayPal, bank transfer and post office transfer. The Vatican is betting that an American-style fundraising pitch under the Chicago-born Leo will do more to help keep the Holy See bureaucracy afloat and erase its 50 million to 60 million euro ( $A87 million to $A104 million) structural deficit. The video features footage of Leo's emotional first moments as Pope, when he stepped out onto the loggia of St Peter's Basilica and later choked up as he received the fisherman's ring of the papacy. With an evocative soundtrack in the background, the video superimposes a message, available in several languages, urging donations to Leo via the Peter's Pence collection. "With your donation to Peter's Pence, you support the steps of the Holy Father," it says. "Help him proclaim the Gospel to the world and extend a hand to our brothers and sisters in need. Support the steps of Pope Leo XIV. Donate to Peter's Pence." At the end of his noon blessing on Sunday, Leo used the same language about his first steps to say the Peter's Pence fund is "a sign of communion with the Pope and participation with his Apostolic Ministry." "From the heart, I thank those who with their gifts are supporting my first steps as the successor of St Peter," he said. The fund has been the source of scandal in recent years, amid revelations the Vatican's secretariat of state mismanaged its holdings through bad investments, incompetent management and waste. The recent trial over the Vatican's bungled investment in a London property confirmed the vast majority of Peter's Pence contributions had funded the Holy See's budgetary shortfalls, not papal charity initiatives as many parishioners had been led to believe. On top of the budget deficit, the Vatican is also facing a 1 billion euro (about $A1.78 billion) shortfall in its pension fund that Pope Francis, in the months before he died, warned was unable in the medium term to fulfil its obligations. Unlike countries, the Holy See doesn't issue bonds or impose income tax on its residents to run its operations, relying instead on donations, investments and revenue generated by the Vatican Museums, and sales of stamps, coins, publications and other initiatives. For years, the United States has been the greatest source of donations to Peter's Pence, with US Catholics contributing about a quarter of the total each year. Vatican officials are hoping that under Leo's pontificate, with new financial controls in place and an American math major running the Holy See, donors will be reassured that their money won't be misspent or mismanaged. Pope Leo XIV has celebrated a special feast day traditionally used by the Catholic Church to drum up donations from the faithful. The Vatican under the first American Pope is rolling out a new campaign to urge ordinary Catholics to help bail out the deficit-ridden Holy See. Leo celebrated Mass in St Peter's Basilica, marking the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul and thanked donors who have contributed, using the language of the publicity campaign to say their financial support was a sign of union with his young pontificate. In churches around the world, Masses on the July 29 feast day often include a special collection for Peter's Pence, a fund which both underwrites the operations of the central government of the Catholic Church and pays for the Pope's personal acts of charity. The church is using a promotional video, poster, QR code and website soliciting donations via credit card, PayPal, bank transfer and post office transfer. The Vatican is betting that an American-style fundraising pitch under the Chicago-born Leo will do more to help keep the Holy See bureaucracy afloat and erase its 50 million to 60 million euro ( $A87 million to $A104 million) structural deficit. The video features footage of Leo's emotional first moments as Pope, when he stepped out onto the loggia of St Peter's Basilica and later choked up as he received the fisherman's ring of the papacy. With an evocative soundtrack in the background, the video superimposes a message, available in several languages, urging donations to Leo via the Peter's Pence collection. "With your donation to Peter's Pence, you support the steps of the Holy Father," it says. "Help him proclaim the Gospel to the world and extend a hand to our brothers and sisters in need. Support the steps of Pope Leo XIV. Donate to Peter's Pence." At the end of his noon blessing on Sunday, Leo used the same language about his first steps to say the Peter's Pence fund is "a sign of communion with the Pope and participation with his Apostolic Ministry." "From the heart, I thank those who with their gifts are supporting my first steps as the successor of St Peter," he said. The fund has been the source of scandal in recent years, amid revelations the Vatican's secretariat of state mismanaged its holdings through bad investments, incompetent management and waste. The recent trial over the Vatican's bungled investment in a London property confirmed the vast majority of Peter's Pence contributions had funded the Holy See's budgetary shortfalls, not papal charity initiatives as many parishioners had been led to believe. On top of the budget deficit, the Vatican is also facing a 1 billion euro (about $A1.78 billion) shortfall in its pension fund that Pope Francis, in the months before he died, warned was unable in the medium term to fulfil its obligations. Unlike countries, the Holy See doesn't issue bonds or impose income tax on its residents to run its operations, relying instead on donations, investments and revenue generated by the Vatican Museums, and sales of stamps, coins, publications and other initiatives. For years, the United States has been the greatest source of donations to Peter's Pence, with US Catholics contributing about a quarter of the total each year. Vatican officials are hoping that under Leo's pontificate, with new financial controls in place and an American math major running the Holy See, donors will be reassured that their money won't be misspent or mismanaged. Pope Leo XIV has celebrated a special feast day traditionally used by the Catholic Church to drum up donations from the faithful. The Vatican under the first American Pope is rolling out a new campaign to urge ordinary Catholics to help bail out the deficit-ridden Holy See. Leo celebrated Mass in St Peter's Basilica, marking the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul and thanked donors who have contributed, using the language of the publicity campaign to say their financial support was a sign of union with his young pontificate. In churches around the world, Masses on the July 29 feast day often include a special collection for Peter's Pence, a fund which both underwrites the operations of the central government of the Catholic Church and pays for the Pope's personal acts of charity. The church is using a promotional video, poster, QR code and website soliciting donations via credit card, PayPal, bank transfer and post office transfer. The Vatican is betting that an American-style fundraising pitch under the Chicago-born Leo will do more to help keep the Holy See bureaucracy afloat and erase its 50 million to 60 million euro ( $A87 million to $A104 million) structural deficit. The video features footage of Leo's emotional first moments as Pope, when he stepped out onto the loggia of St Peter's Basilica and later choked up as he received the fisherman's ring of the papacy. With an evocative soundtrack in the background, the video superimposes a message, available in several languages, urging donations to Leo via the Peter's Pence collection. "With your donation to Peter's Pence, you support the steps of the Holy Father," it says. "Help him proclaim the Gospel to the world and extend a hand to our brothers and sisters in need. Support the steps of Pope Leo XIV. Donate to Peter's Pence." At the end of his noon blessing on Sunday, Leo used the same language about his first steps to say the Peter's Pence fund is "a sign of communion with the Pope and participation with his Apostolic Ministry." "From the heart, I thank those who with their gifts are supporting my first steps as the successor of St Peter," he said. The fund has been the source of scandal in recent years, amid revelations the Vatican's secretariat of state mismanaged its holdings through bad investments, incompetent management and waste. The recent trial over the Vatican's bungled investment in a London property confirmed the vast majority of Peter's Pence contributions had funded the Holy See's budgetary shortfalls, not papal charity initiatives as many parishioners had been led to believe. On top of the budget deficit, the Vatican is also facing a 1 billion euro (about $A1.78 billion) shortfall in its pension fund that Pope Francis, in the months before he died, warned was unable in the medium term to fulfil its obligations. Unlike countries, the Holy See doesn't issue bonds or impose income tax on its residents to run its operations, relying instead on donations, investments and revenue generated by the Vatican Museums, and sales of stamps, coins, publications and other initiatives. For years, the United States has been the greatest source of donations to Peter's Pence, with US Catholics contributing about a quarter of the total each year. Vatican officials are hoping that under Leo's pontificate, with new financial controls in place and an American math major running the Holy See, donors will be reassured that their money won't be misspent or mismanaged.
Perth Now
8 hours ago
- Perth Now
Show me the money: Pope launches Vatican debt campaign
Pope Leo XIV has celebrated a special feast day traditionally used by the Catholic Church to drum up donations from the faithful. The Vatican under the first American Pope is rolling out a new campaign to urge ordinary Catholics to help bail out the deficit-ridden Holy See. Leo celebrated Mass in St Peter's Basilica, marking the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul and thanked donors who have contributed, using the language of the publicity campaign to say their financial support was a sign of union with his young pontificate. In churches around the world, Masses on the July 29 feast day often include a special collection for Peter's Pence, a fund which both underwrites the operations of the central government of the Catholic Church and pays for the Pope's personal acts of charity. The church is using a promotional video, poster, QR code and website soliciting donations via credit card, PayPal, bank transfer and post office transfer. The Vatican is betting that an American-style fundraising pitch under the Chicago-born Leo will do more to help keep the Holy See bureaucracy afloat and erase its 50 million to 60 million euro ( $A87 million to $A104 million) structural deficit. The video features footage of Leo's emotional first moments as Pope, when he stepped out onto the loggia of St Peter's Basilica and later choked up as he received the fisherman's ring of the papacy. With an evocative soundtrack in the background, the video superimposes a message, available in several languages, urging donations to Leo via the Peter's Pence collection. "With your donation to Peter's Pence, you support the steps of the Holy Father," it says. "Help him proclaim the Gospel to the world and extend a hand to our brothers and sisters in need. Support the steps of Pope Leo XIV. Donate to Peter's Pence." At the end of his noon blessing on Sunday, Leo used the same language about his first steps to say the Peter's Pence fund is "a sign of communion with the Pope and participation with his Apostolic Ministry." "From the heart, I thank those who with their gifts are supporting my first steps as the successor of St Peter," he said. The fund has been the source of scandal in recent years, amid revelations the Vatican's secretariat of state mismanaged its holdings through bad investments, incompetent management and waste. The recent trial over the Vatican's bungled investment in a London property confirmed the vast majority of Peter's Pence contributions had funded the Holy See's budgetary shortfalls, not papal charity initiatives as many parishioners had been led to believe. On top of the budget deficit, the Vatican is also facing a 1 billion euro (about $A1.78 billion) shortfall in its pension fund that Pope Francis, in the months before he died, warned was unable in the medium term to fulfil its obligations. Unlike countries, the Holy See doesn't issue bonds or impose income tax on its residents to run its operations, relying instead on donations, investments and revenue generated by the Vatican Museums, and sales of stamps, coins, publications and other initiatives. For years, the United States has been the greatest source of donations to Peter's Pence, with US Catholics contributing about a quarter of the total each year. Vatican officials are hoping that under Leo's pontificate, with new financial controls in place and an American math major running the Holy See, donors will be reassured that their money won't be misspent or mismanaged.
West Australian
9 hours ago
- West Australian
Penny Wong heads to Washington for meetings with Quad and Marco Rubio
Foreign Minister Penny Wong will meet her US counterpart Marco Rubio in Washington this week amid ongoing global instability and domestic pressure for Australia to increase its defence spending. Senator Wong travels to the US for the Quad foreign ministers' meeting on Tuesday, the second gathering of the group in six months. 'I look forward to engaging with my Quad counterparts as we strengthen cooperation to ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,' she said. Mr Rubio wants to build on the momentum of the meeting earlier this year, a State Department official said in announcing the meeting. 'This is what American leadership looks like: strength, peace, and prosperity,' the official said. While in Washington, Senator Wong will also meet with India's external affairs minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya. But all eyes will be on the meeting with the US Secretary of State. Senator Wong said ahead of leaving the country that the United States was Australia's 'closest ally and principal strategic partner'. 'Our alliance contributes to the peace, prosperity and stability of our countries and the region we share,' she said. 'We will continue to work together to further our important economic and security partnership and advance our mutual interests.' Mr Rubio was with President Donald Trump in the Netherlands for last week's NATO meeting, where European countries agreed to American demands to significantly boost military defence spending. Australia has already come under similar pressure, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth telling Defence Minister Richard Marles his budget should jump from its current level just above 2 per cent of GDP to 3.5 per cent. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said last week that if allies in Europe and NATO could find the extra money, 'I think our allies and our friends in the Indo-Pacific region can do it as well'. The Government has repeatedly pointed out its budget contains $10 billion in extra Defence spending over the next four years. It's on a trajectory to reach more than 2.3 per cent by 20233, but this may be sped up once the next national defence strategy is published in about April. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Australia had 'mature, decent, respectful conversations' with the United States, but the Government would ultimately make its own decisions on behalf of Australia's national interests. 'Our guiding principle in all of this is, what do you have to do to be able to keep Australians safe? And so we start with the capability. We don't start with the dollars,' he said on Sunday. 'It is true, around the world now, that the world is a less stable place than it was. 'That means the conversations you're having now about capability are different to what you would have had (a couple) of years ago.' But shadow defence minister Angus Taylor accused the Government of ignoring the advice from its defence strategic review, published two years ago. He wants to see more money put into hardening northern bases, speeding up the upgrade at the Henderson shipyard, counter-drone technology and recruitment. 'Forget the pressure being put on by the United States,' he said. 'If we are to play the role we need to play in ensuring we have peace through deterrence in our region, the spending is too low, and the government's plan demonstrates that.' Mr Iwaya and Japan's Defence Minister cancelled bilateral talks with the US that were set to coincide with the Quad ministerial meeting after the Trump administration demanded it too spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence, Reuters reported last week. Anthony Albanese is expected to travel to China in July for the annual bilateral leadership talks. Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited Canberra and Perth at this time last year. The Prime Minister is also seeking a meeting with Mr Trump as soon as possible. The Quad leaders' summit should be hosted in India this year, but a date is yet to be locked in.
