Pope scraps free flats for cardinals

VATICAN CITY - Catholic cardinals will no longer enjoy free Vatican apartments under a rule change ordered by Pope Francis to save money, Vatican News reported on Wednesday.

The pontiff said the current economic climate required "sacrifice" as he also ordered an end to discounted rents enjoyed by top Vatican officials.

The decision was taken "to meet the growing commitments" of the Catholic Church "in an economic context of particular gravity, such as the current one", according to a papal note cited by the Vatican's official news outlet.

Francis urged the need "for everyone to make an extraordinary sacrifice to allocate more resources to the mission of the Holy See, also by increasing revenue from the management of the real estate patrimony".

The Vatican did not publish the note, nor did it respond to AFP requests for confirmation.

Existing rental contracts will be honored but from then on the Church institutions that own the properties must apply the same rates as those charged to people with no connection to the Vatican, Vatican News said.

It did not say when the measure would come into effect, only that it was agreed after a meeting the pope had with the head of the Vatican's economy department on February 13.

The Vatican's real estate empire is vast, including buildings from Rome to Paris, London and Geneva.

Since he became pope in 2013, Francis has sought to bring order to the Holy See's finances, while improving transparency at the Vatican.

In 2021, he reduced the salaries of cardinals and top officials to help mitigate the damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic on the Holy See's finances. -- Agence France-Presse