Pope Leo reverses Bergoglio’s cuts and increases the cardinals’ salaries

Leo restores salaries to pre-Covid levels: now that the emergency is over, Prevost believes that the austerity measures linked to that period – introduced by Francis – can now also be lifted. By means of a Motu proprio, Leone XIV has abolished the regulations established by Bergoglio in March 2021, which cut the salaries of Holy See staff – starting with cardinals and heads of departments of the Roman Curia – and froze biennial seniority increments. This measure was dictated at the time by the consequences of the pandemic, which had exacerbated “the deficit that has characterised the Holy See’s financial management for several years, adversely affecting all sources of revenue for the Holy See and the Vatican City State”, as stated in the Motu proprio *A Sustainable Future*.

In fact, Francis had cut the salaries only of the Curia’s cardinals – whose pay is around 5,000 euros a month, though it varies considerably – who have so far seen a 10 per cent reduction. Meanwhile, the pay cut for employees of the Holy See, the Governorate and other associated bodies classified in pay grades C and C1 – that is, the heads and secretaries of the Dicasteries – was 8 per cent. There was also a general 3 per cent reduction for clerical and religious staff. In the same vein – as Vatican News points out – the freeze on biennial pay rises (the salary increases that take effect every two years) affected all serving staff; however, in the case of lay staff, it applied to employees from the fourth level upwards. It therefore did not affect the lowest salaries.

Leo XIV himself, in the document published on 14 September, explains that his predecessor’s “wage restraint measures” “were also necessary to tackle the exceptional challenge posed by the pandemic”. They had already been partially amended in 2025, through the repeal of Article 3, by the Rescriptum ex Audientia of 16 June 2025. “Now,” says Leone, “they can be phased out, in the certainty that the institutions of the Holy See and the Vatican City State will continue, through various means, their commitment to ensuring economic sustainability.”

For this reason, “having sought the expert opinion of the Secretariat for the Economy” and “having carefully examined all the facts”, the Pope has decreed the definitive repeal of the Motu proprio *A Sustainable Future* with effect from 1 September 2026. However, the document states that “the effects produced during the period of its validity shall remain definitively in force, including the effects resulting from the suspension of the accrual of biennial seniority increments referred to in Article 5, which shall be definitively acquired”. In other words, everything that happened or was implemented whilst that law was in force remains unchanged, including the freeze on the accrual of seniority increments.