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Tuesday, December 10, 2024
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Pope appoints US cardinal to manage Vatican’s troubled pension fund

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Cardinal Kevin J Farrell
Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, attends a news conference at the Vatican Sept. 24, 2024, to present the theme for World Youth Day 2027 in Seoul, South Korea. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Kevin J Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, as the sole administrator for the Vatican’s pension fund, which is currently unable to guarantee future obligations in the medium term.

“We are all fully aware now that urgent structural measures, which can no longer be postponed, are needed to achieve sustainability of the pension fund,” the pope wrote in a letter addressed to the College of Cardinals and the heads of the Roman Curia and other institutions connected to the Holy See.

Given the limited resources available to the Holy See and because appropriate funding will be needed to cover all pension obligations, there is a need for “making decisions that are not easy and will require special sensitivity, generosity and a willingness to sacrifice from everyone,” the pope wrote in the letter dated 19 November and published by the Vatican 21 November.

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The pope wrote that the appointment “represents, at this time, an essential step in meeting the challenges facing our pension system in the future,” he wrote.

The letter comes just a few months after the pope wrote to the College of Cardinals 16 September saying, “Additional effort is now needed on everyone’s part so that a ‘zero deficit'” may be an achievable goal.

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