Word: vaticans
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Cash flow may be the reason that John Paul called such a meeting so early in his reign. The Vatican's tight financial secrecy has encouraged reports of fabulous financial holdings, by some accounts as high as $2 billion. In fact, when John Paul got his first look at the Vatican books, he was apparently shocked at how little wealth there is. Like more worldly organizations, the Vatican is plagued by galloping inflation and an increasingly high overhead. The major problem is the swollen staff of more than 3,000 which John Paul inherited from Paul VI, a born...
...meeting ended, the Vatican issued a public financial communique, its first ever, revealing a 1979 budget deficit of around $20 million. The gap has been met by "Peter's pence," the aid offering from churches around the world, and other gifts. But the 1980 deficit will be worse and, the statement added, "within a few years the Holy See will find itself hard-pressed." Said one Cardinal, "The Vatican is certainly not Fort Knox." The meeting urged austerity at all levels. The balance sheet apparently did not cover the international mission office or the Vatican bank, and may exclude...
...Paul VI in 1967, and he has kept incumbent officials in place. The secrecy of last week's meeting made it unclear what reforms the Cardinals proposed. Even so, the assembly was the clearest indication yet that the Pope from Poland intends to change the way the Vatican does business...
...meeting" in fact restored an ancient practice. Under Pope Leo IV (847-855), Cardinals began frequent administrative sessions that grew more important in church government. Then, in 1588, Pope Sixtus V, to increase his personal power and cope with a growing work load, established the various departments of the Vatican Curia. Meetings of all the Cardinals soon died out-except for papal elections and ceremonial occasions, known as "consistories," to install Cardinals and name new saints...
Some Cardinals wield personal power at the Vatican as members on the boards of various Curia offices. But a dozen or so Cardinals, all of whom live in Rome, have overwhelming influence through multiple membership on such boards. Regular gatherings of the entire college will give added power to the 72% of Cardinals who now live outside Rome, and provide the Pope with leverage against the Curial establishment...