Watch: Vatican releases Pope Leo fundraising video amid financial crisis
The Vatican has released a new fundraising video centred on newly elected Pope Leo XIV, urging the faithful to support his mission amid a serious financial crisis for the Catholic Church.
The one-minute video, shown on giant screens in St. Peter's Square and spread on social media, asked for donations to Peter's Pence - a papal fund used to support church activities and charity work. According to the latest available records, the fund received 48.4 million euros in donations in 2023.
The Vatican has not published a full budget report since 2022, but the last set of accounts included an 83-million-euro shortfall, sources said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
6 hours ago
- Sky News
Prince William's Duchy of Cornwall to allow some charities to use buildings rent-free after backlash
Prince William's Duchy of Cornwall will allow certain charities to use its buildings rent-free after facing criticism over multimillion-pound deals the landed estate struck with public bodies. William's duchy, which provides him with a private income of nearly £23m a year, has launched a review which means that grassroots groups - such as an orchard used for therapeutic gardening - that are direct tenants will now have their rents waived, while local charities will see up to a 50% reduction in rent. While the amount William receives from the duchy was also revealed at a briefing about the duchy annual "impact report", it again failed to say how much tax he pays. His private secretary Ian Patrick only confirming that "the Prince of Wales pays the highest rate of income tax". Talking about the rent change, Will Bax, the duchy's new secretary and keeper of records said: "It would be remiss not to address the media scrutiny the duchy has experienced this past year. "We've used these challenges as an opportunity to stop and reflect, both the duke and I are clear that we want the duchy to be world class in our approach to supporting people, communities and nature to flourish and to realise that aim, we must operate and communicate in a modern, socially-minded way." He added: "It's clear we've entered an era of deep change, but we change, not because we disrespect our past, but precisely because we do respect it." The change follows an investigation last November into the prince's duchy and the Duchy of Lancaster estate, which provides a private income for the King, by Channel 4's Dispatches and The Sunday Times, which found the estates had secured rental agreements worth millions of pounds with the armed forces, the NHS and state schools. Mr Bax said the duchy was also looking at including schools in the community groups that would be eligible for the rent waiver. The investigation last year revealed the duchy was set to earn around £600,000 over the lifetime of six different leases agreed with local state schools. The policy review will, however, not alter commercial relationships with public bodies such as the ministries of defence and justice. 3:33 Mr Bax said: "There are certain groups that we feel it right and proper that we have market-based arms-length relationships with in public sector terms. For example, our Management Act requires that, public sector procurement rules require that." William is the 25th Duke of Cornwall, after becoming entitled to the duchy's profits when he became heir to the throne. Accounts released on Monday showed the duchy generated profits of £22.9m, down £700,000 from £23.6m the previous financial year (2023-24). The money is used to fund the charitable, private and official lives of William, the Princess of Wales and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. It was revealed that last year the prince and princess personally donated to a number of charities and voluntary groups including organisations set up by the parents of the girls murdered in Southport last summer and funding a new car for a Norfolk charity that transports blood. Prince William's private secretary also said the royal closely follows the ongoing humanitarian situation in the Middle East and has made donations to organisations working there. Their charity donations are subtracted before tax. The King, as the previous Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall, disclosed the voluntary tax he paid in his annual Clarence House review - £5.892m in 2021-22.
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Noem fires back after $80K 'dark money' payment allegations
Donald Trump 's Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem has fired back after it emerged her company received $80,000 from a fundraising group while she was governor of South Dakota. Noem's company was paid $80,000 by a nonprofit she had helped raise $800,000 for, according to tax records reviewed by ProPublica. Critics called the arrangement 'disturbing' and pointed to a South Dakota law that the governor should 'devote (their) full time to office' and 'compensation (be) limited to salaries.' However, Noem's lawyer Trevor Stanley, in a statement to the Daily Mail, said she had 'fully complied with the letter and the spirit of the law.' He added: 'During her confirmation process, the Office of Government Ethics analyzed and cleared her financial information in regards to this entity. Secretary Noem has fully disclosed all of her income on public documents that are readily available, and she has made all required filings at the state and federal level. 'In fact, the only reason this story exists is because individuals were able to examine publicly available documents.' Records for the nonprofit, American Resolve Policy Fund, an organization that backs Noem, showed the $800,000 had been taken in from 'fundraising' activities. ProPublica described the nonprofit as a 'so-called dark money group' because it was not required to disclose the identities of its donors. The records showed 10 percent of the money raised was then paid to Ashwood Strategies LLC. Noem was the managing member of Ashwood Strategies, which was incorporated in Delaware in June 2023. When she became President Trump's Homeland Security Secretary, Noem filled out a detailed financial disclosure form. On that form, reviewed by the Daily Mail, she said Ashwood Strategies LLC had taken in money for 'personal activities outside my official gubernatorial capacity.' She added that the money had not been passed on to her. Income she reported for Ashwood Strategies was 'solely received by the LLC; I did not receive any personal income or other distributions from the LLC,' Noem wrote. The form also revealed that Ashwood Strategies received Noem's $139,750 advance for her 2024 book 'No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.' In January, in an ethics agreement ahead of taking her new job as Homeland Security Secretary, Noem said she would leave her position as managing member of Ashwood Strategies. 'I will continue to have a financial interest in this entity, but I will not provide services material to the production of income,' Noem said. 'Instead, if I receive any income from Ashwood Strategies, LLC in the future, I will receive only passive investment income from it.' On Noem's links to the nonprofit, Stanley said she did not 'establish, finance, maintain, or control American Resolve Policy Fund. She was simply a vender for a non-profit entity.' Her financial disclosure form also revealed that Noem earned $241,519 as governor of South Dakota. The new row came after she attracted attention for wearing a $50,000 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Rolex watch when she toured the infamous Cecot prison in El Salvador in March. In April, when she had her bag stolen at a restaurant in Washington DC. it emerged she was carrying $3,000 in cash.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Kristi Noem fires back after scrutiny of $80K 'dark money' payment to her company
Donald Trump 's Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem has fired back after it emerged her company received $80,000 from a fundraising group while she was governor of South Dakota. Noem's company was paid $80,000 by a nonprofit she had helped raise $800,000 for, according to tax records reviewed by ProPublica. Critics called the arrangement 'disturbing' and pointed to a South Dakota law that the governor should 'devote (their) full time to office' and 'compensation (be) limited to salaries.' But Noem's lawyer Trevor Stanley, In a statement to ProPublica, said she had 'fully complied with the letter and the spirit of the law.' Records for the nonprofit, American Resolve Policy Fund, an organization which backs Noem, showed the $800,000 had been taken in from 'fundraising' activities. ProPublica described the nonprofit as a 'so-called dark money group' because it was not required to disclose the identities of its donors. The records showed 10 percent of the money raised was then paid to Ashwood Strategies LLC. Noem was the managing member of Ashwood Strategies, which was incorporated in Delaware in June 2023. When she became President Trump's Homeland Security Secretary, Noem filled out a detailed financial disclosure form. On that form, reviewed by the Daily Mail, she said Ashwood Strategies LLC had taken in money for 'personal activities outside my official gubernatorial capacity.' She added that the money had not been passed on to her. Income she reported for Ashwood Strategies was 'solely received by the LLC; I did not receive any personal income or other distributions from the LLC,' Noem wrote. The form also revealed that the Ashwood Strategies received Noem's $139,750 advance for her 2024 book 'No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.' In January, in an ethics agreement ahead of taking her new job as Homeland Security Secretary , Noem said she would resign from her position as managing member of Ashwood Strategies. 'I will continue to have a financial interest in this entity, but I will not provide services material to the production of income,' Noem said. 'Instead, if I receive any income from Ashwood Strategies, LLC in the future, I will receive only passive investment income from it.' In his statement to ProPublica, Stanley, said that, after Ashwood Strategies appeared on her financial disclosure, the Office of Government Ethics had 'analyzed and cleared her financial information in regards to this entity.' According to her disclosure form Noem earned $241,519 as governor of South Dakota. The new row came after she attracted attention for wearing a $50,000 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Rolex watch when she toured the infamous Cecot prison in El Salvador in March. The following month, when she had her bag stolen at a restaurant in Washingon DC. it emerged she was carrying $3,000 in cash
