Pope Francis again cuts perks for cardinals, Vatican managers
VATICAN
CITY, March 1 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has moved to eliminate free rent
for cardinals and subsidized rents for other senior Vatican officials,
saying they too have to contribute to cost savings.
The
new rules were summarised in a note written by Maximino Caballero Ledo,
a Spanish layman who heads the Vatican's finance ministry. They stemmed
from a meeting he had with the pope last month.
It
was posted in the Vatican's central courtyard with no fanfare and a
senior Vatican official confirmed its contents to Reuters on Tuesday.
Until
now cardinals who live in Vatican-owned apartments, either inside the
city-state or its surroundings in Rome, have lived rent-free. They pay
for their utilities and staff-related expenses.
Some of the cardinals are retired and receiving pensions.
Bishops
and other Vatican managers currently pay subsidized rents. The new
rules apply to the senior management levels of clergy and lay people,
such as presidents and the second and third-ranking officials in Vatican
departments.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/7LDQRMF3YJKCJJETLBCVR6ATUQ.jpg)