Pope Leo XIV has repealed salary cuts introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic for cardinals and senior Vatican officials.
Pope Francis, Leo’s predecessor, had adopted the measure in March 2021 in response to the economic consequences of the pandemic.
Francis said the pandemic had worsened “the deficit that has characterised the economic management of the Holy See for several years and has negatively affected all sources of revenue for both the Holy See and Vatican City State”.
The measure included a 10 percent cut in the salaries of cardinals; an eight percent cut in the salaries of certain employees of the Holy See, the governorate, and the heads and secretaries of Dicasteries; a general three percent reduction for employees who were clergy or members of religious institutes; and a suspension of biennial seniority increases.
But in a papal decree on Monday, his 71st birthday, Leo repealed the measures.
Leo noted that Francis’ “salary-containment measures” had been necessary in order to confront “the exceptional challenge of the pandemic”.
“Now they can be brought to an end, in the certainty that the institutions of the Holy See and Vatican City State will continue, through different means, their commitment to ensuring economic sustainability,” he added.
A cardinal working in the Roman Curia, the Catholic Church’s central administration, is estimated to earn between $5,200-$5,800 a month.
The pontiff said the measures were abolished effective September 1.