Monday 14 September 2026 16:09
Pope Leo reverses covid-era salary cuts for cardinals
Leo repeals the 2021 austerity measures introduced during the covid-19 pandemic, restoring pay for cardinals and senior Curia officials, though frozen seniority increases from the intervening years will not be repaid.Pope Leo XIV has repealed the salary cuts imposed on cardinals and senior Vatican officials by his predecessor, Pope Francis, bringing an end to austerity measures introduced during the covid-19 pandemic.
In a Motu Proprio published on Monday - Pope Leo's 71st birthday - the pontiff revoked the provisions of Francis's March 2021 decree which had cut the pay of Holy See personnel in response to the financial pressures of the pandemic.
Under that measure, cardinals working in the Curia saw their salaries reduced by 10 per cent, heads and secretaries of Curia departments by 8 per cent, and clergy or members of religious institutes by 3 per cent. The decree had also suspended the biennial seniority pay increases normally granted to staff, with lay employees at level four and above affected, sparing those on the lowest salaries.Francis had introduced the cuts to avoid more drastic measures, such as job losses among lay staff, particularly parents supporting families, at a time when the pandemic had worsened what the original decree described as a longstanding deficit affecting both the Holy See and Vatican City State's finances.In the new document, Pope Leo XIV states that his predecessor's salary-containment measures had been a necessary response to "the exceptional challenge of the pandemic", but that they can now be brought to an end, expressing confidence that the Holy See and Vatican City State will continue to pursue economic sustainability through other means.
The provisions had already been partially eased in June 2025, when part of the original decree was repealed, according to Vatican News.
The repeal takes effect from 1 September 2026, following consultation with the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy. However, the pope's decree makes clear that effects produced while the original measure was in force remain unchanged, meaning the seniority increases frozen during those years will not be paid retroactively.
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Pope Leo XIV has repealed the salary cuts imposed on cardinals and senior Vatican officials by his predecessor, Pope Francis, bringing an end to austerity measures introduced during the covid-19 pandemic.
In a Motu Proprio published on Monday - Pope Leo's 71st birthday - the pontiff revoked the provisions of Francis's March 2021 decree which had
cut the pay of Holy See personnel
in response to the financial pressures of the pandemic.Under that measure, cardinals working in the Curia saw their salaries reduced by 10 per cent, heads and secretaries of Curia departments by 8 per cent, and clergy or members of religious institutes by 3 per cent. The decree had also suspended the biennial seniority pay increases normally granted to staff, with lay employees at level four and above affected, sparing those on the lowest salaries.
Francis had introduced the cuts to avoid more drastic measures, such as job losses among lay staff, particularly parents supporting families, at a time when the pandemic had worsened what the original decree described as a longstanding deficit affecting both the Holy See and Vatican City State's finances.
In the new document, Pope Leo XIV states that his predecessor's salary-containment measures had been a necessary response to "the exceptional challenge of the pandemic", but that they can now be brought to an end, expressing confidence that the Holy See and Vatican City State will continue to pursue economic sustainability through other means.
Francis had introduced the cuts to avoid more drastic measures, such as job losses among lay staff, particularly parents supporting families, at a time when the pandemic had worsened what the original decree described as a longstanding deficit affecting both the Holy See and Vatican City State's finances.
In the new document, Pope Leo XIV states that his predecessor's salary-containment measures had been a necessary response to "the exceptional challenge of the pandemic", but that they can now be brought to an end, expressing confidence that the Holy See and Vatican City State will continue to pursue economic sustainability through other means.
The provisions had already been partially eased in June 2025, when part of the original decree was repealed, according to Vatican News.
The repeal takes effect from 1 September 2026, following consultation with the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy. However, the pope's decree makes clear that effects produced while the original measure was in force remain unchanged, meaning the seniority increases frozen during those years will not be paid retroactively.
