The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-12-05
BUSINESS SIDE OF THE VATICAN

.,orasting and informing article on The Business
APARTMENT of the Vatican" The writer, Mr.
George Barton has evidently been at pains to
rather his data from authoritative sources and his
general treatment of the subject is such as will not
only arouse and hold the interest of the "men of
figures who read The Bookkeeper, but of the read
inc public in general. Says the writer:
The business department of the Natcan-by
which term is comprehended the immense yet deli
cate internal machinery of the Roman Catholic
church--is probably the least known and yet the
most interesting bit of mechanism connected with
that notable organization. than which Lord Macau-
Jay declared, none was more worthy of serious eX-
animation.
The vastness and the perfection of the system
appeal strongly to the modern American mind
which looks with admiration upon big enterprises
Of any character and has special reverence for any
device by which the ordinary omissions and blum
dar- of mankind are reduced TO minimum, 1t can
be- said without exagggeration that the business de-
THrtment of the Vatican is more nearly hawless
than that of any great corporation in the world.
This perfection, il should be said, is largely OBJ
tanned by a sacrifice of the speed-the strenuous
actvity-whch is one of the chief features of our
modern American business life.
BY the Vatican is meant not only the official
residence of the pope which is also the working
headquarters of some of his chief assistants, but all
of that large establishment in Rome which has the
executive charge and management of the material
interests of the Roman Catholic church The Nal-
can palace is only of the five large buildings
utilized for transacting the business Of the holy see
They are the Palazzo di S. Athzo, wherein are the
Offices Of the congregation Of the holy ONCE; the
Taticano, which is the headquarters of the state
department hc Palazzo iii Propaganda Eide, occu-
pied by the congregation having charge OF the at
fairs of missionary countries; La Datarla used by
the congregation which might be termed the bureau
OF appointments. and La Cancelleria, wherein are
house all of the remaining congregations. The
buildings are not grouped but are in widely sepa-
rated portions of the Eternal City, much the
White House. the treasury department, the pension
Office and the and navy departments are scat
tered in Washington.
An inquiry into the business department Of the
Vatican naturally includes some reference to the
source of revenue of the church. the method Of
collecting Peters Pence. the cost of maintaining
The Vatican and the mode of dsbursng the funds,
which are under the control of the Curia Romano.
i may be said to include all of those who form the
court of the pope. from the sardinia secretary of
state down to the hUmblest subordinate clerk who
spends his days and nights a high stool copying
documents and engrossing certified copies of papal
bulls.
During the period that the pope was sovereign
of the Roman states the government admin
istered-under the pontif-by a minister of the in
terior the ministers of finance. commerce and war,
a council Of state. several boards and commissions,
4 financial consulter and courts of law for trying
owl and criminal cases Since the pope has been
IN allegiance
The receipts and expenditures of the Vatican,
like those Of our government at Washington, vary
from year to year, that it Is impossible to give
precise figures 1t is estimated, however, upon good
authority. that during the last years of the life of
Leo NH the annual receipts and expenditures
amounted to about S1,5O0,000 One estimate of the
division of this sum places 100000 for the sup
port Of cardinals and diplomatic missions abroad,
100000 for the maintenance of the vatican and its
library and museums-which of course, includes
the Vatican household expenses; 100000 for the
pontihcal aims and the subsidies to the schools of
Rome 100000 to gifts and charities, and 100000
Tor miscellaneous purposes. In some instances the
cost Of diplomatic missions is betrayed by the
tries to which they delegated; in others by the
pope
The revenues of the church come from two
sources, one known as the "patrimony of Peter"
and the other called Peters pence" The patrimo-
M of Peter represents the invested capital of the
church 1t Is the interest on funds invested by
former pontitts. rent from buildings owned by the
church fees for various services performed and !
dacumcnts that are issued in the course of every
DAY ecclesiastical business. Since the bulk of its
property was seized by the Italian government the
church realizes very little from its real holdings
in the Eternal City. Cardinal Mocenn who is
known the administrator of the Vatican, Is also
ha disburser Of its funds and is regarded as man
OF unusual ability a tinancier. Some of the
money of the Vatican Is in Italian banks, but this
money represents the less important parts of the
md- what in bank parlance is known as the
live account of the Vatican" The failure of ,
Italian bank some ten years ago, by which the V att
a0 lost a considerable sum of money, has made the
officials very wary about having business relations
with the financial institutions of Rome. 1t is no
secret that the larger portion of the Vatican invest
mnni~ in London securities. nj recent years !
Berlin, as we'll has been given friendly eonsidera
uU. Fl j. hardly necessary to say that the invest
ia0t- are exclusively in high-cass bonds.
Peters pence Is probably more Important than |
the liked revenues Of the Vatican, for it represents
rho voluntary and often spontaneous offerings of |
'ha faithful. The time and method of Its collection
are left entirely TO the judgment of the bishop of
each particular diocese OF course, under such a |
condition the method Of collecting Peters pence
varies very materially. In this country the process
's quite simple. The plan adopted by any one of |
c largo dioceses is representative of that employed
IN The others. Take Philadelphia specimen
The archbishop sends out a letter to the rector /
o every parish in his archdiocese instructing him |
TO lake up a collection for the Pope at all OF the !
services on a specified Sunday. The letter con- /
'an- n appeal calling upon the faithful to con-
tribute according to their means" One of the !
circulars. relating to a collection taken up few |
wears ago recitcd the fact that. since the Italian
government has despoiled the Pope of his temporal
Possessions, he depended almost entirely upon the |
Voluntary contributions Of the people 1t paid an |
Eloquent and meritcd tribute TO the character and i