translation of the article published in the Italian newspaper Panorama
IF THE VATICAN GOES ON STRIKE TOO
From the Gospel according to Matthew: "When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." To Vatican employees, however, this evangelical reserve seems more Pharisaic than Christian because - they write in a document - in the shadow of the dome there are children and stepchildren and nothing more is known about the accounts of the Papal State.
There is a strike in the air, for a protest, firm and polite, that runs through all the offices under Francis.
The decisive date is September 25, when the assembly of the Association of Lay Employees of the Vatican is set - established on October 31, 1993 - now led by the secretary Alessandro Guarasci.
At that meeting, which will renew the positions, the first abstention from work in the thousand-year history of the Holy See could also be decided. The ADLV is not a real union - this Pope has done everything to suppress it even if the association is recognized - but it is aggregated to all the world's trade union organizations.
The climate is very tense and the workers are pushing for a sensational protest.
They are just under five thousand - 4,978 as of December 31st to be precise - of which 1,165 are women, a number that has increased considerably during Bergoglian rule.
Another mini-union is that of the workers of the Fabbrica di San Pietro: there are about a hundred of them, including stonecutters, bricklayers, porters.
They are on the verge of abstaining from work for two reasons: they earn too little, they fear losing their jobs because external management is entering the Basilica.
Like the payroll management entrusted to the Stefano Goldoni firm that managed the layoffs at the Messaggero di Sant’Antonio, the magazine of the Friars Minor Conventual.
They are also angry about the new regulations for the employees of the «Fabbrica».
They should climb onto the scaffolding in clean uniforms: a stain of mortar is enough and you are fined.
Among the obligations are to be Catholic, to be married in Church if married, to have neither piercings nor tattoos, but above all to remain silent: not to reveal anything.
And yet they must induce the faithful to pay alms. Because the plate of the Pontifical Factory is crying.
The climate of discontent against Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, who is Vicar General for the Vatican City and President of the Fabric of St. Peter, is growing.
The employees accuse him of having brought all the top staff from Assisi and that St. Peter's is managed with the same criteria as the Basilica of St. Francis, creating many difficulties, starting with the lines of tourists when there is a shift change at the ticket office.
For at least four years, no one has spoken to the employees of the Holy See: they carry out orders, often very abrupt, with constant threats of dismissal - they have no social safety net: neither redundancy fund nor unemployment benefit - they suffer an erosion of salaries that shows no sign of stopping and a tendency to outsource services to progressively reduce staff.
A piece of news that has caused quite a bit of concern is that the century-old experience of the Vatican Annona is about to end. The supermarket - where it is worth doing your shopping: it is one of the few defenses that those who work for Bergoglio have against inflation - will be transferred to private management starting next January 1st. Rumors say that it will be entrusted to Pewex, owned by Sante and Paolo Cetorelli, Roman entrepreneurs. It remains to be seen what will happen to the fifty employees of the Vatican Market.
Some in the curia jokingly say that they will go from selling Nostromo tuna to being boatswains on the support ships of Luca Casarini's pro-migrant mission.
There is equal concern for the Vatican pharmacy. It is one of the "jewels" of the Holy See, so much so that there are endless lines of "non-residents" who go there to buy medicines that cannot be found in Italy. But here too there is a problem for Vatican employees.
If someone has retired, they can only buy the drugs prescribed by the doctors of the Health Care Fund (FAS) that the employees pay for. And even about the pharmacy that is managed by the prior Binish Thomas Mulackal there are rumors of income.
Because one thing is certain: the economic revolutions ordered by Francis and in fact managed by Rehinard Marx, the pro-Lgbtq+ cardinal of Monaco who wants married priests and priestesses, in addition to gay marriages, have not given the desired results. And since the left must not know what the right does, the balance sheets of the Holy See are no longer published.
You can get an idea through the accounts of Peter's Pence - the charity fund once managed by the Governorate now under the direct responsibility of the Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin - which are doing worse and worse because Francis' Church has fewer and fewer faithful and receives fewer and fewer alms.
Last year, the Pence income "stopped" at 52 million euros, the expenditure amounted to 109.4 million. The "red" of over 57 million was covered by drawing on reserves. It should be noted that only 13 million went to the benefit of the most needy.
Hence the eagerness of the Employees' Association to open a discussion first of all with the Governor of the Vatican State, Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, who doesn't move a leaf unless Francis wants it and in fact has so far avoided all discussions. Moreover, most of those who work within the Leonine Walls depend on him.
Secretary of State Parolin - it is rumoured in the corridors - would be inclined to listen and concede because he fears a strong backlash to his image from the protest that the ADLV has already written down. He writes in his document: «Starting from the “Motu proprio” Fidelis dispensator et prudens, the Vatican has begun to pay particular attention to the economy, a feature that has now dominated all activities.
Today, in light of the investment of resources made, what are the results of this “revolution”? Will someone answer us before the General Assembly in September?
We sincerely hope so because discontent is growing mercilessly, as demonstrated by the class action brought forward by some employees of the Vatican Museums. When will we see the much-desired opening to dialogue in the style of Cardinal Casaroli?».
The Vatican Museums are the great unknown in this dispute: they have over 300 employees, some highly paid, but after Covid they have always had red balance sheets. There are fears of job cuts and services being outsourced: the director Barbara Jatta is silent for now.
The Association complains that there is a suspicious silence around the Vatican’s accounts. And then there is the worrying chapter on outsourcing.
As if Jorge Mario Bergoglio on the one hand preaches the defense of work and the Christian mission of those who work in the Vatican, but on the other intends to thin the ranks by outsourcing everything.
Starting with the immense real estate assets gathered in APSA, the Vatican real estate. Archbishop Giordano Piccinotti has arrived to direct it, but he is following the plan developed by Monsignor Nunzio Galantino, his predecessor, one of the men who dictated the reform of the economy to the Pope.
Well, that asset, which is estimated at three billion euros, will end up being managed by a consortium of Italian real estate operators, just as Deloitte has been appointed by the Dicastery for Evangelization to be the strategic advisor for the Jubilee 2025 and McKinsey is organizing a strategic plan for the relaunch of Vatican communications.
In the face of all this, the ADLV fears, in addition to "the block on promotions, the cuts in salaries and pensions and welfare benefits announced with a phantom reorganization plan", that the policy of rewarding a few at the expense of many will continue.
And here is the announcement: "The ADLV is not willing to remain indifferent if further penalizing measures for employees are adopted".
If Francis distributes excommunications left and right, employees should also feel entitled to make a disavowal: it is not true that working in the Vatican is a blessing from Heaven!
There is a strike in the air, for a protest, firm and polite, that runs through all the offices under Francis.
The decisive date is September 25, when the assembly of the Association of Lay Employees of the Vatican is set - established on October 31, 1993 - now led by the secretary Alessandro Guarasci.