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


Impairment of the Vatican" The writer. Mr.
George Barton, has evidently been at pains to
egthcr his data from authoritative sources and his
general treatment of the subject is such as viii not
only arouse and hold the interest of the men of
faurcs who read The Bookkeeper. but of the read
ING public in general. Says the writer:
The business department of the Vatican-by
which term is comprehended the immense yet deli
cate internal machinery of the Roman Catholic
church-is probably the least known and vet the
most interesting bit of mechanism connected with
that notable organization. than which Lord Macau-
Jay declared, was more worthy of serious
animation.
The vastness and the perfection of the system
appeal strongly to the modern American mind
which looks with admiration upon big enterprises
az any character and has special reverence for any
device by which the ordinary omissions and blum
der. of mankind are reduced to a minimum. 1t
BE- said without exagggeraton that the business de-
TArtment of the Vatican is nearly hawless
than that Of any great corporation III the world
This perfection it should be said. is largely OBJ
tanned by a sacrifice of the speed-the strenuous
activity-which is 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 Natl-
can palace is only one of the five large buildings
They are the Palazzo di S. Afzio, wherein are the
Offices of the congregation of the holy office: the
Eaticano, which is the headquarters of the state
department he Palazzo di 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
81 appointments. and La Canceleria, wherein are
house all of the remaining congregations. The
buildings not grouped. but are IN widely sepa-
rated portions of the Eternal City, much the
he
Office and the war 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 discussing the funds
which are under the control Of the Curia Romano
i may be said to include all of those who form the
of the pope, from the sardinia secretary of
state down to the humblest subordinate clerk who
spends his days and nights 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 was admin
istered-under the pontitf-by a minister of the in
teriur the ministers of finance. commerce and war,
council of state. several boards and commissions,
financial consulter and courts of law for trying
owl and criminal cases. Since the pope has been
deprived of his temporal power these offices remain
ID allowance /
The receipts and expenditures of the Vatican,
Ike those of 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 S1.500000. One estimate of the
division of this places 100000 for the sup
port of cardinals and diplomatic missions abroad,
100000 for the maintenance Of the vatican and It's
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
for miscellaneous purposes. In some instances the |
cost OF diplomatic missions is betrayed by the coun-
1res to which they delegated; III 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
nv of Peter represents the invested capital of the
church. il Is the interest funds invested by /
former pontitfs rent from buildings owned by the |
church fees for various services performed and I
oocumcnto that are issued in the course of every
day ecclesiastical business. Since the bulk of its |
property seized by the Italian government the |
church realizes very little from its real holdings /
n the Eternal City. Cardinal Mocenni, who is
known the administrator of the Vatican, Is also |
the disburser Of its funds and is regarded man
4" unusual ability as a fnancer Some of the
money Of the Vatican is in Italian banks but this
money represents the less important parts of the
md~ or what in bank parance is known as the
live account of the Vatican" The failure of an ,
Italian bank some Ten years ago by which the Vati-
&a o>t considerable 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
men0, are in London securities M recent years
Berlin, as well, has been given friendly considera-
lan. i is hardly necessary to say that the invest
taont- are exclusively in hgh-class bonds
Peters pence is probably more Important than
the fixed revenues Of the Vatican, for it represents
the voluntary and often spontaneous offerings of
rna faithful The time and method of its collection
arn 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
J, quite simple. The plan adopted by any one of
lhc large dioceses is representative of that employed
m The others Take Philadelphia specimen.
5c archbishop sends out letter to the rector
r every parish in his archdiocese instructing him
10 lake up collection for the Pope at all of the
services on a specified Sunday. The letter con-
'ans 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. recited the fact that, since the Italian
government has despoiled the Pope of his temporal
no,sc>sions he depended almost entirely upon the
Voluntary 0ntr hutio Of he paoDle maid an