THE PAPAL REVENUE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1875, 28 October 1887, Page 32

THE PAPAL REVENUE.

A foreign diplomatist accredited to Rome gives the following account of the present Pope's income and what he does with it. The pontifical revenue is derived from three separate sources. The first is the interest of an enormous sum left by Pope Pius IX to the Papal Treasury, which interest produces some £120,000. The capital of this is invested in English Government funds. Contrary to what some persons might imagine, Leo XIII is a great speculator, and subscribes to all the Italian loans. When the latter rise he sells out and invests the profits in English consols. To the revenue left by Pius IX must be added a sum almost equal in amount furnished by the Peter's Pence Fund, which, however, has fallen off of late years. This

constitutes the ordinary budget of the Holy See as distinguished from the extraordinary budget. The latter is derived from a third source, and is supplied by the receipts of the Apostolic Chancellery. The collation of titles of nobility, decorations, blessings for the dying, altar privileges, private chapels, ecclesiastical titles — such are a few of the items which go to make up the extraordinary budget. It amounts to an average of £100,000 per annum/ and serves to make up the private purse of the Sovereign Pontiff, on which he relies to enable him to exercise

lis generosity. It will be observed that the >rivate budget of the Pope is thus derived,

11 a great measure, from the satisfaction of

human vanity. The ordinary budget of the Holy See, which amounts to £240.000 per annum, is distributed by the Major Domo of fche Vatican among the cardinals residing in Rome — about £1000 a year each — the prelates of the papal court, the secretaries, the nuncios, the pontifical body-guards, &c.

It is denied that Leo XIII is avaricious. On the contrary, no Pope ever gave more, his Holiness keeping nothing for himself. As for his table, it resembles that of a poor country curate. His clothes cost him nothing, being supplied by the faithful from all parts of the world, and be scarcely keeps a penny to enrich even his own family. The fortune which he • gave to his favourite nephew, Camille Pecci, did not reach £4000, while as for the presents which he gave the bride, they were of the poorest kind. On the other hand, he spends a great deal in raising the prestige of his court, in creating schools, relieving the poor, and maintaining the Catholic press. He gives large subsidies to papers which support his policy, but they must be entirely subservient to him.

As yet he has not touched a penny of the annual allowance of £120,000 accorded to the Vatican under the law of Papal Guarantees, passed when Victor Emanuel took possession of Rome. The annual income has gone on accu "nulating throughout all these 17 years, and now reaches an enormous sum. The Italian bishops and clergy have been paid by the Italian Government since the death of Pius IX.

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