are there any numbers or educated guesses of the wealth of the vatican worldwide?
thx
al
The bulk is real estate and other fixed assets… art (Michelangelo) and such. I belivee the Church is incorporated (is that right) in many areas, making discovery of such a number very difficult.
Follow the link in this Google answer thread, as a number is quoted. Hold on to your seat.
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=16625
Also, you need to clarify your question. Do you want the assets of the Catholic Church as a whole, or the assets of the Vatican? Remember, each diocese is an independent entity, and the Vatican doesn’t have any access to the funds of other dioceses.
If you just want the Vatican balance sheet, Philster’s link can help. If you’re looking for the combined income and assets of all the dioceses, you have a harder job.
Well, there was a book on this: N. Lo Bello, The Vatican Wealth (1971). But note that it’s 35 years old.
Much of the wealth would be in property & artworks. It’s really hard to put a realistic value on some of that, since it’s all one of a kind. What value do you give to Michangelo’s Pieta, for example? Most of his work is owned by churches or museums, so there haven’t been many recent sales to compare to. And what property value would you assign to the land in Manhattan that St. Patricks Cathedral sits on?