Money: Francis Drives Church Against a Wall
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Another indicator is the “8 per thousand” of the tax bill which the Italian state allows to donate to the Church or other institutions.
In 2005, when Benedict XVI succeded John Paul II, 89.82% of the taxpayers dedicated this money to the Church.
During Benedict’s pontificate the percentage of signatures in favor of the Church went down by a few points, but the absolute number of signatories went up until 2011 (15,604,034).
Francis started off with 15,226,291 signatures (80.91%). Then, things went downhill:
2017: 13,774,382 (75.36%)
2018: 13,520,527 (78.5%)
2019: 13,156,158 (77.18%)
2020: 12,056,389 (71,74%)
A similar fate befell the Peter’s Pence, the offerings to the pope collected every year all over the world:
2014: €83 million
2017: €64 million
2020: €54 million.
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