John Thavis: The Vatican is not immune from the global economic crisis. That was painfully clear this week when the Vatican released its final budget figures for 2009, showing a $15 million shortfall. We’ll take a closer look at Vatican finances today on the Vatican Report. I’m John Thavis, Catholic News Service Rome bureau chief.CG: And I’m Carol Glatz, CNS Rome correspondent. There was good news and bad news in the budget report. First, let’s talk about the good news: donations to the Pope were up -- from dioceses, religious orders and Catholics around the world. That’s very important, because those donations totaled more than $180 million in 2009, more than half the budget total. Once again, the biggest contributions came from the United States. But virtually every Catholic community in the world gave something, from Africa to Southeast Asia.JT: Now for the bad news. Even with increased giving, they fell $15 million short. That means the Vatican may have to dip into its investment portfolio to make up the difference -- something they obviously don’t want to do, because much of the Vatican’s income derives from investments. The Vatican didn’t publish details of its spending, but it listed a couple of big-ticket items in 2009: overhaul of its telecommunications system with the installation of a fiber optic network, and a complete restructuring of the Vatican Library, which is due to reopen in September.CG: The Vatican Museum expanded its exhibition spaces and its visiting hours in 2009, which meant higher personnel costs. Now, the Museum is one of the few Vatican institutions that actually makes money. They don’t say how much, but with close to 5 million visitors paying from 10 to 20 dollars for a ticket, it’s substantial. On the other hand, the Museum employs about 600 people, more than any other Vatican department, and it has big expenditures in restoration and upkeep. So it’s not simply a money machine.JT: At the other end of the spectrum are the Vatican’s communications operations: the newspaper, television, radio, printing press, publishing house, the press office. They cost a lot and take in practically nothing. You would think that if the Vatican were looking for places to make budget cuts, this would be it. But they’re not doing that, at least so far. And the reason is that they know that without communication, including journalistic communication, the Church cannot evangelize.CG: A case in point is Vatican Radio. It takes in practically no revenues, and costs about $30 million a year to operate. People in the West might say, that’s a lot of money for old technology. But we shouldn’t forget that in much of the world, radio continues to be the way people get their information. Of course, Vatican Radio’s activities today go far beyond radio broadcasting. It provides a host of online services in some 40 languages, including video and podcasting.JT: The Vatican’s biggest overall spending category is wages and benefits for its approximately 4,600 employees. It has a similar number of retired employees, and the Vatican is being very careful to protect its pension fund these days.CG: The Vatican is often seen as independently wealthy. But most of what’s considered wealth at the Vatican cannot be converted into cash. The bottom line is that when the world economy is in trouble, the Vatican shares the pain. I’m Carol Glatz.JT: And I’m John Thavis, Catholic News Service.

John Thavis: The Vatican is not immune from the global economic crisis. That was painfully clear this week when the Vatican released its final budget figures for 2009, showing a $15 million shortfall....leggi tutto