# Does the Pope get paid? How much?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-pope-get-paid-how-much/119304>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 16, 2002, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-pope-get-paid-how-much/119304 "2002-07-16T23:44:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-pope-get-paid-how-much/119304/1 "2002-07-16T23:44:22Z")

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[Seems not](http://www.cin.org/archives/cinjub/200107/0049.html)

[quote]  
Vatican spokesman Joaquín Navarro-Valls published a press statement saying that “the Pope has not received, and has never received, a salary.”

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**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-pope-get-paid-how-much/119304/2 "2002-07-16T23:52:13Z")

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Um, my electric kettle died today, I only just realised some hours on that water can be heated on the stove or in the microwave and I am sure once I fix the caffeine withdrawal my coding will improve and/or I will have the patience to do a preview.

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**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-pope-get-paid-how-much/119304/3 "2002-07-17T04:18:48Z")

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[QUOTE]  
\*Originally posted by Thylacine \*  
\*\*[Seems not](http://www.cin.org/archives/cinjub/200107/0049.html)

> [@](#):
>
> Vatican spokesman Joaquín Navarro-Valls published a press statement saying that “the Pope has not received, and has never received, a salary.” \*\*

Priests and members of Catholic religious orders in general take a [Vow of Poverty](http://www.catholicdoors.com/faq/qu20.htm). The Pope was first a priest.

This doesn’t mean that they live in poverty but rather that they don’t own private property and the means of living are provided to them. Even some amenities are included. I see our local monseigneur on the golf course now and then.

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**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-pope-get-paid-how-much/119304/4 "2002-07-17T05:00:38Z")

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The Pope does not draw a salary, but I’m sure he has a very large expense account to draw from. The Vatican and the RCC is a big institution with a lot of money, although its financial health comes and goes with the times.

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**Author:** ![Hemlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Hemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hemlock)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-pope-get-paid-how-much/119304/5 "2002-07-17T05:13:34Z")

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He once bummed 500 lira off me in a Rome 7-11 because he hadn’t enough cash to buy a pack of Marlboros.

Seriously, priests are terrible scroungers. I have several relatives who are both. They get a basic salary to cover living costs, and they get housing complete with domestic help, so they never do a thing round the house. One was the virtual king of a rural community and expected a gift from parishoners whenever they came to visit him - a bottle of something, usually. Another partially lived off his parents for their whole lives.