The Holy See closed the 2025 financial year with a net worth of 2.686 billion euros, 89 million more than the previous year, according to the annual report of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), presented last Friday and released by Vatican News. The document places the operating result at 22.8 million euros and notes that, after the contribution of 22.7 million intended for the support of the Roman Curia, the year ended with a surplus of 155,000 euros, incorporated into the patrimony.
During the presentation of the balance sheet, the president of APSA, Archbishop Giordano Piccinotti, explained that the 2025 financial year reflects a return to ordinary management after a 2024 marked by extraordinary operations related to the reorganization of the financial portfolio.
Net worth increases by 89 million euros
Net worth rose from 2.597 billion euros in 2024 to 2.686 billion in 2025. According to the report, this increase is mainly due to the revaluation of physical gold in the portfolio (+40.8 million euros), the increase in the value of real estate (+39.2 million) and the positive valuation of financial assets (+16.3 million).
Regarding the operating result, APSA obtained 22.8 million euros, compared to the 62.2 million recorded in 2024. Piccinotti indicated that both years are not directly comparable due to the extraordinary nature of the income obtained the previous year.
New accounting criteria and the 16 million incorporated into the patrimony
One of the highlighted aspects of the balance sheet corresponds to the management of movable assets, which shows a negative accounting result of 3.7 million euros.
APSA attributes this figure to the application of the new Vatican Financial Management Policy (VFMP), which establish that changes in the value of investment portfolios are recorded directly in net worth and not in the income statement.
As a consequence of this change, the positive returns obtained by the portfolio, amounting to around 16 million euros, were incorporated directly into the patrimonial reserves.
“It is a decision of transparency and accounting prudence. Those 16 million have not been lost, but have been allocated directly to strengthening the Administration’s patrimony,” Piccinotti stated.
APSA also indicated that the overall return on its own portfolio was 14.37 %, within an investment strategy based on prudent criteria, with an equity exposure of 17 %, 32 % in fixed income, 29 % in physical gold and the remainder in liquidity.
More than 5,400 properties and a plan to sell non-strategic assets
The real estate sector once again represented the main source of ordinary income for the Administration. The result of this sector amounted to 44.5 million euros, 9.4 million more than the previous year.
Currently, APSA manages 4,281 properties in Italy and around 1,200 units abroad, located mainly in London, Paris, Geneva and Lausanne through companies wholly owned by the Vatican.
The report also notes that the Administration has launched a three-year plan (2025-2027) for the sale of properties considered non-strategic and the urban and cadastral regularization of part of its patrimony, with the aim of reinvesting the resources obtained in higher-yielding assets.
The contribution to the functioning of the Roman Curia
In addition to asset management, APSA carries out administrative functions for various bodies of the Holy See.
During 2025 it transferred in full the 22.7 million euros requested to contribute to the functioning of the Roman Curia. Likewise, around 40 % of the Administration’s staff worked providing services to other dicasteries, bodies and Vatican foundations.
According to the balance sheet data, APSA managed the accounting of 77 entities of the Holy See, made more than 50,000 payments, processed 4,417 purchase requests and assumed the maintenance of the real estate patrimony used by various Vatican bodies.
Among the projects currently under development are the agrivoltaic complex “Fratello Sole” in Santa Maria di Galeria and the rehabilitation of the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI.
An expert assesses the balance sheet and calls for greater transparency
After the presentation of the accounts, Professor Robert Gahl, director of the Church Management program at The Catholic University of America, positively assessed the publication of the report, although he considered that the Holy See could make progress in financial transparency.
In statements to Rome Reports, Gahl stated that more detailed economic information would foster the trust of the faithful and could encourage contributions to the Holy See.
The expert recalled that APSA manages a financial portfolio close to 1.950 billion euros and maintained that obtaining profits through investments should not be identified with speculative activity. Based on the published figures, he estimated that the return on that portfolio would be less than 1 %.
Regarding the real estate patrimony, he indicated that it constitutes a stable source of income for the Holy See thanks to rentals and leases, although he observed that the average return per property may appear reduced because a significant portion of the properties is intended for the use of Vatican bodies and does not generate commercial income.