Nickels and Dimes: The Holy See's budget report

From CNS:

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Despite the $8.9 million of extraordinary expenses related to the death of Pope John Paul II and the election of Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican closed its 2005 budget with a surplus of more than $12 million, officials said.

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Improved exchange rates and higher interest on Vatican investments helped give the Vatican its healthiest bottom line in eight years, the cardinal said. He said the Vatican's investment sector closed with a profit of $55 million compared to a profit of only $7.7 million in 2004.

Listed under "other income and expenses" in the 2005 budget were the $8.9 million in "costs sustained" during the papal transition.

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Archbishop Croci said a full 33 percent of the donations came from dioceses, groups and individuals in the United States. [More...]

CNA adds more:

Cardinal Sergio Sebastiani, president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, has announced that while several segments within the Vatican lost money in 2005, the Holy See consolidated financial statements for last year closed with a surplus of 9.7 million euro. This, he said, "represents the most significant value of the last eight years."

The financials of the Holy See have been slowly improving over the last four years. In 2004 the budget closed with a surplus of 3.08 million euro, which was the first surplus in three years. In 2003 the Holy See was in the red by 9.6 million euro. [More...]