Vatican Reports Surplus: The Vatican said the...

Vatican Reports Surplus: The Vatican said the $1.7-million operating profit in 1995 is its third consecutive year in the black after 23 years of losses. Cardinal Edmund Szoka, the American president of the watchdog Prefecture for Economic Affairs, said the Vatican’s consolidated financial statement for last year showed total operating income was $194.1 million and total costs were $192.4 million. The deficits, which ended in 1993 with the first surplus, forced Pope John Paul II to divert funds that had been earmarked for charities to take up the slack. Much of the Vatican’s income derives from investments, mostly bonds, rent from real estate holdings and contributions from the faithful, dioceses, religious orders, foundations and organizations worldwide.