The budget of the Holy See is not in surplus. Meanwhile, the “Luce” mascot ends up in the sights of traditionalists, also due to costs
photo credit: Jubilee25
03 November 2024 at 3.35pm
The coffers are crying, and so the Vatican decides for the 2025 Jubilee to focus on volunteers to try to make the Holy Year a success. Meanwhile, controversy explodes over “Luce”, the mascot chosen for the religious event, criticized above all by more traditionalist circles.
Is the budget of the Holy See crying?
The budget of the Holy See is not prosperous, for various reasons: financial and real estate investments are not always successful, see the case of the Sloane Square building in London; decline in offerings from the faithful. The positive balance of APSA, the body that manages the Vatican’s assets, will probably not be able to make up for the more general deficit. And so the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization decided to use unpaid volunteers for the Jubilee. To apply, just go on the dedicated website.
For the Jubilee volunteers also for surveillance
An appeal therefore came from the diocese of Rome to all the parishes to find spaces for the young people who will arrive in the capital, especially for World Youth Day which will be celebrated in August. And then we need families who in turn welcome families of pilgrims, but in this aspect there is a lack of membership. But it is also expected that young graduates will be employed in surveillance, even if it is not clear with what tasks. In fact, the control of the thousands of pilgrims cannot be improvised and entrusted to the Vatican gendarmerie and the police.
Vitriolic criticism of “Luce” and its designer, also regarding costs
“Luce”, the mascot of the 2025 Jubilee is in the sights of the most traditionalists among Catholics. The online periodical “Nuova Bussola Quotidiana” reserves attacks on Luce’s ‘father’, Simone Legno, and writes that the designer was the curator of the “Gay pride” gadgets and a line of sex toys. The ‘Catholic Information’ portal adds: “An evergreen gag that hovers among the clergy reiterates that God is One, Triune and Money: faith and pecunia non olet”. In fact, how much was Legno paid to design the mascot? And were there no ‘creatives’ among the employees already paid by the Vatican? But resorting to external parties is now a well-established practice in the Vatican. Deloitte has in fact been chosen as Strategic Advisor for the period May 2023 – March 2026. With all due respect to the staff who already work for the Holy See in that sector.
