By Alessandro Speciale| Religion News Service, Updated: Monday, July 9, 4:35 PM AP
(Image: Wikimedia Commons)
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican posted a record loss of $19 million (15 million euros) in 2011, its worst deficit in more than a decade.
Vatican officials blamed the loss on the “negative trend of global financial markets, which made it impossible to achieve the goals laid down in the budget,” in an announcement on Thursday (July 5).
The Holy See’s budget benefited from a $61 million (49 million euros) contribution from the Institute for the Works of Religion, the Vatican Bank. But this was offset by growing expenses, especially for personnel and for the Vatican media network, which includes Vatican Radio and the semiofficial newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. Vatican media operations registered a loss of $22 million.
To read the rest of this story, visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/the-vatican-blames-market-decline-for-20-million-deficit/2012/07/09/gJQA5UeqYW_story.html
