Pope Leo XIV is to hike the salaries
of Vatican staff and officials, sources said Thursday.
They said he meant to follow up on the change that began at the
very beginning of his pontificate when he reinstated the
Conclave bonus of 500 euros for all employees that had been
abolished by his predecessor, Pope Francis, as a sign of greater
responsiveness to the needs of the poor.
That signal was much appreciated by Vatican insiders.
But if in that case it was a “one-off”, the season of cuts and
restrictions for Vatican employees could be definitively left
behind, the sources said.
The move for the Conclave alone, multiplied by the 3,500-4,000
Vatican employees, entailed an expense of between one and a half
and two million euros.
Now there is talk of the possibility that the basic salaries in
the Vatican will undergo an average increase of 10 percent: not
in a linear form but modular, therefore with a higher share for
those who earn less and proportionately lower for those who
already earn more.
There is also talk of the possible recovery of the two-year
seniority period canceled in recent years, but on that there is
less confirmation, since it is also more difficult to apply from
an accounting point of view.
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