Vatican reports 2.2 mn euro profit amid drop in donations

Vatican City, July 5 (IANS/AKI) The Vatican posted a budget surplus of 2.2 million euros for the 2012 fiscal year, although its charitable offerings fell, the Holy See said.

A panel of cardinals who approved the balance sheet said the 2,185,622-euro profit was largely due to good financial management.

But the Vatican noted a 12-percent drop in donations from ordinary faithful and more than a five-percent drop in contributions from religious orders.

It said its main items of expenditure were its 2,823 employees, its radio station and the five million euros it paid for the first time to the Italian state in property taxes.

Over the past week, the Vatican's financial institutions have been convulsed by a 20 million euro smuggling plot that led to the arrest of a senior cleric and the resignations of the Vatican bank's two top managers, apparently over a lack of financial transparency.

Pope Francis has set up a commission to probe the Vatican Bank, which has long been beset by money-laundering allegations. He also personally attended the approval of the Vatican's annual financial statement.

--IANS/AKI

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