The president of the Administration of the Heritage of the Apostolic See (APSA) explains the 2021 Financial Status in an interview with Vatican Media, noting a surplus of 8.11 million euros and emphasizing that the main objective remains to evangelize and give help to tenants who need it.
By Vatican News
For the second consecutive year, APSA publishes its financial statement under the banner of total transparency.
Bishop Nunzio Galantino, president of the Heritage Administration of the Apostolic See, talks about the key figures of the Financial State 2021, recalling that, as Pope Francis says in the Praedicate evangelium, evangelization is a central priority of all the entities of the Holy See.
For this reason, it is essential to gain the credibility and trust of those who use their talents and resources for the Church’s mission. Of the 38.11 million euros of operating income and the 30 million euros allocated to the Curia, there is a surplus of 8.11 million euros.
In this sense, it should also be noted that in 2021 APSA made a larger contribution to the Curia (an additional 4.6 million euros) than in previous years. Although facing the recovery of the previous year, the 2021 financial year was still affected by the continuing repercussions of the pandemic.
In addition, the financial outlook remains uncertain due to the war in Ukraine. However, the administration has continued with its policy of helping tenants in difficulty due to the crisis.
Q: Bishop Galantino, this is the second time APSA’s financial statement has been released. Why has this not been done in previous years?
It is not that APSA has not prepared its financial statements before or that APSA’s budget has not been subject to analysis and oversight. The moment of publication was lacking; the moment of communication was missing. This was an important moment to provide those who wanted to know the facts sufficient to make an informed judgment and to avoid uttering platitudes, such as we sometimes hear, about Church real estate or chattels. This is the only way to prevent these banalities from surprising or scandalizing those who are in good faith regarding the patrimony of the Church. Communication is essential. It is an act of respect towards those – and there are many – who continue to entrust the Church with their talents and resources to support it in its mission.
Q: What are the key figures to highlight from this APSA 2021 financial statement?
APSA’s operating costs, related to the activities of the three sectors in which the Administration operates, were 38.11 million euros for 2021 with an increase compared to 2020 of 16.1 million euros . Three points in particular should be highlighted. The first: asset management achieved a profit of 19.84 million euros with an increase compared to 2020 of 4.5 million. This improvement can be attributed to capital gains not realized in the valuation of the values at the end of the financial year. Second point: real estate management achieved a profit of 20.77 million euros with an increase compared to 2020 of 5.5 million. Third point: the management of other assets meant a loss of 2.5 million euros but an improvement compared to 2020 of 6.1 million. This improvement can be attributed to the lower deficit of Peregrinatio ad Petri Sedem and the lower deficit of auxiliary management, attributable essentially to the higher income achieved by the definitive acquisition of the inheritance.
Q: Apart from day-to-day administration, does APSA engage in other activities?
I can only think of two things. The Pope entrusted APSA with the task of selling the well-known London property and withdrawing the asset that had been the source of a scandal that certainly did the Church no good. Thank God we finally got rid of the London building and the money that was made went back into Peter’s Pence.
Then, the other activity that has kept APSA busy lately, together with other Vatican entities and especially the Secretariat of the Economy, has been the rescue of the bankruptcy of the Fatebenefratelli-Isola Tiberina Hospital. Finally, through an agreement with the Fundació Policlinico Gemelli, it was possible to carry out an operation that really required a lot of effort, many meetings, agreements and commitments, to be able to save this entity that was the flagship of Catholic healthcare.
The Pope wanted this hospital not to leave the circuit of Catholic health centers. Because? Not out of a frenzy for possession, but because being of excellence, it was right that it should not be left behind, that it should not only be used by individuals, but that it should remain as an asset at the service of all, truly all. .
It is clear that the commitment of APSA and the other entities of the Holy See is justified solely for this reason, that is to say, to allow everyone, including the smallest, to benefit from a specialization facility with the already highly qualified collaboration of Gemelli.
Q: We have mentioned several times the desire for change requested by the Pope. With Pope Francis’ reforms, how much harder is it to repeat the mistakes and scandals of the past?
I believe that mistakes can never be completely avoided as long as human activity is involved. But with the reforms that are being launched, it is intended to avoid as much as possible, humanly speaking, that there could be mistakes or, worse, actions that not only damage the Church’s heritage, but also erode its credibility and reputation
Q: How does the new Apostolic Constitution Predicate the Gospel guide APSA’s action?
The Constitution Praedicate evangelium has decisively reoriented all the actions of the Roman Curia towards the unique mission of the Church, which is evangelization. Therefore, we too, as APSA, must continually keep in mind that we are called to evangelize through what we do. Certainly, we do not evangelize if the administration of the specific purposes of the heritage under which it was constituted is lost.
If I set out to make speculative investments, I am certainly not evangelizing. Nor do I evangelize when through negligence or incompetence this heritage struggles to achieve the purpose of providing what is necessary for the ordinary activity of the mission of the Church and the Roman Curia.
I repeat: the credibility and reputation of the Church, as we well know, also require a competent and transparent management of the patrimony, which is why making the financial account public is a concrete way of thanking those who, in different ways, still generously trust resources to the Church for its mission.
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