Pope Leo ends Covid-era salary cuts for Cardinals and senior officials
Pope Leo XIV repealed the 2021 Motu Proprio that cut salaries of Cardinals, dicastery heads, secretaries, clergy and religious. The repeal restores salaries that were reduced by 10% for Cardinals, 8% for dicastery heads and secretaries, and 3% for clergy and religious. It also ends the suspension of biennial seniority increases that had been in place since the pandemic. The repeal takes effect from 1 September 2026, while effects accrued during the previous law remain unchanged.
7 days ago
Pope Leo XIV has ended the principal COVID-era salary reductions imposed on senior Vatican personnel by Pope Francis, effective retroactively from September 1, 2026. The repeal removes the ongoing pay cuts but does not restore money previously withheld or seniority increases suspended during the austerity period. 1 2 4
Francis introduced the measures in March 2021, when the pandemic had worsened the Holy See’s existing financial deficit. The policy was intended to contain spending and avoid more severe steps, including dismissals of employees, particularly lay staff with families. 1 4
The reductions included:
The policy also suspended biennial seniority increases. For lay employees, the suspension applied to staff at salary level four and above, leaving the lowest salary levels unaffected. 1
Leo XIV’s motu proprio repeals Pope Francis’ measure, titled A Sustainable Future, after consultation with the Secretariat for the Economy or, as reported by ZENIT, the Council for the Economy. The decree states that the exceptional salary-containment measures adopted during the pandemic can now end while the Holy See and Vatican City State continue pursuing financial sustainability through other means. 1 2 4
The 3% reduction for clergy and religious had already been abolished in June 2025, while Leo’s new measure removes the remaining principal reductions affecting cardinals and senior officials. 1 4
The repeal does not provide retroactive compensation for the reductions applied while the policy was in force. Previously withheld sums will not be reimbursed, and the seniority increases frozen during the austerity period will not be restored. 1 4
The Vatican’s account of the decree says that the effects produced under the earlier law remain definitively preserved, including the suspension of biennial seniority increases. ZENIT specifies that this includes increases frozen between 2021 and 2023. 1 4
The decision therefore ends the continuing salary reductions without returning Vatican personnel fully to the pay arrangements that existed before the pandemic. 1 4
ZENIT reported that the Holy See’s finances had improved by 2024, when it recorded a surplus of €1.6 million compared with a deficit of €51.2 million in 2023. Its structural deficit, excluding financial-market results, declined from €83.5 million to €44.4 million. 4
The improvement was attributed mainly to increased donations and stronger financial results. The Vatican’s economic assessment nevertheless continued to identify full financial sustainability as a long-term objective, particularly because donations remained an important factor in the improved figures. 4
On the same day, Leo XIV also changed Pope Francis’ plan to expand the Vatican Apostolic Archive and Vatican Apostolic Library into premises connected with the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary at the Lateran. Francis had designated part of the seminary and surrounding property for the expansion in June 2024. 4
Leo instead ordered new repositories to be built inside Vatican City State, in the area of the Automobile Pool Fountain and adjoining spaces. The project will require relocating the Vatican vehicle facility and constructing a replacement parking area. 4
The Archive and Library will help finance the portions of the project devoted to their needs, including the relocation of the vehicle facility. Leo also ordered the two institutions to establish a Vatican foundation to support the project under the Holy See’s economic oversight and auditing systems. 4
Together, the two decisions end or replace selected arrangements adopted during Francis’ pontificate while retaining the broader objectives of financial sustainability and institutional development. 4
Reevaluate Vatican fiscal policy post‑pandemic through canonical law
Post-pandemic Vatican fiscal policy should be judged not merely by whether it reduces deficits, but by whether it fulfills the Church’s canonical purpose: ensuring that temporal goods serve divine worship, the support of ministers, apostolic work, and charity—especially toward the poor. The reforms instituted around 2020–2024 represent a significant movement toward centralized oversight, separation of functions, budgetary discipline, and transparency. Their canonical adequacy, however, depends on implementation, accountability, and demonstrable service to the Church’s mission.
Canon law recognizes the Church’s right to acquire, possess, administer, and alienate temporal goods, but only for ecclesial purposes. These include divine worship, the worthy support of clergy and other ministers, apostolic activity, and works of charity.
Accordingly, a post-pandemic fiscal policy would be canonically deficient if it treated financial stability as an end in itself. Cost reductions, asset sales, investment strategies, and restructuring are legitimate only insofar as they preserve or advance the Church’s mission. The decisive question is not simply, “Is the balance sheet healthier?” but also, “Are resources reaching worship, evangelization, ministry, and the poor?”
Canon 1284 requires administrators to act with the diligence of a good householder. It specifically requires protection of assets, observance of civil and canon law, timely collection of revenue, prudent investment, orderly accounting, annual reporting, and preservation of property records.
This provides a strong canonical basis for post-pandemic measures such as:
The pandemic exposed the vulnerability of institutions dependent on unstable income streams. Canonically, that strengthens—not weakens—the case for reserves, risk management, and professional expertise. Yet prudence does not mean indiscriminate accumulation. Surplus assets should remain ordered to the juridical person’s legitimate ecclesial purposes.
The 2021 reform sought a clearer distribution of responsibilities among the Secretariat of State, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, and the Secretariat for the Economy. Its stated rationale was more transparent and efficient administration, together with a clear separation of competencies and functions.
This is consistent with canonical principles of supervision and responsibility. The Church’s legal framework does not require every financial decision to be made by one office; rather, it assigns administrators duties and provides for oversight by competent authority. The reform therefore appears canonically sound insofar as it prevents conflicts of interest and ensures that those who execute transactions are subject to independent review.
The principal unresolved issue is practical: the supplied materials establish the reform’s legal intention, but do not provide sufficient post-pandemic financial data to determine whether it has actually improved efficiency, reduced losses, or strengthened public confidence.
The 2020 norms created distinct subaccounts for Peter’s Pence, the Pope’s discretionary fund, and funds restricted by donor intention or regulation. They also required these funds to remain dedicated to their purposes and subjected non-budgeted dispositions to additional authorization and countersignature.
This is particularly important canonically. Administrators must use revenue according to the intention of the founder, donor, or legitimate norm. Consequently, consolidating financial statements may be legitimate for transparency, but consolidation must not erase juridical distinctions or permit restricted donations to be diverted to unrelated needs.
The policy’s strength is that it combines unified reporting with separate accounting. Its weakness would arise if reporting remained technically consolidated but practically opaque, or if restrictions were not effectively enforced.
The 2024 motu proprio presents subsidiarity as a governing principle: institutions connected with the Apostolic See retain appropriate autonomy, while supervisory authorities exercise their institutional control. It also links this arrangement to the diligence required by canon 1284 §1 and to transparent efficiency.
This offers a balanced model. Excessive centralization can weaken local responsibility and obscure who is answerable for decisions. Excessive decentralization can produce inconsistent standards, duplication, and inadequate oversight. Canonical administration requires both competent local stewardship and effective hierarchical supervision.
Thus, post-pandemic Vatican fiscal policy should centralize standards, reporting, auditing, and risk controls while preserving operational autonomy where institutions can responsibly manage their own affairs.
Canon law places immediate responsibility on administrators, while ordinaries and competent authorities must supervise and intervene where negligence occurs. Ecclesiastical guidance emphasizes the duty to conserve property, oversee administration, issue appropriate instructions, and act when administrators fail in their responsibilities.
The pope’s universal authority over ecclesiastical goods should not be confused with personal responsibility for every transaction. The Dicastery for Legislative Texts explains that the Roman Pontiff exercises supreme authority over Church goods by virtue of his primacy, while immediate administrators remain responsible for the acts of administration of the juridic persons entrusted to them.
Accordingly, a sound fiscal policy should identify:
Without such clarity, formal reform can coexist with practical irresponsibility.
The canonical and pastoral test of fiscal policy is its effect on evangelization and charity. Church administration should be honest and transparent, and its purpose should be directed especially toward the poor and toward the Church’s mission.
A post-pandemic policy should therefore protect essential pastoral capacity, including:
Asset sales may be permissible, but canonical norms limit alienation and require attention to the preservation of ecclesial heritage. Financial restructuring that sacrifices essential worship, ministry, or charity merely to preserve nonessential assets would invert the proper hierarchy of goods.
The Vatican’s post-pandemic fiscal direction can be evaluated positively in four respects:
These measures correspond closely to the duties of ecclesiastical administrators under the 1983 Code.
Nevertheless, canonical compliance cannot be established solely by legislation or institutional design. The available material does not establish whether the reforms have produced sustainable budgets, effective audits, reduced financial risk, or sufficient disclosure after the pandemic. Those questions remain unresolved.
The most defensible canonical judgment, therefore, is qualified approval: the policy architecture is substantially consistent with canon law, but its legitimacy ultimately depends on faithful execution, transparent reporting, personal accountability, prudent stewardship, and measurable service to worship, apostolate, and charity.