Before he was hospitalized, Francis ordered the creation of a new high-level commission to encourage donations.

The large number of journalists assembled near St Peter’s Square wait each evening for the latest update with some, like the revelation that the Pope had a "prolonged asthma-like respiratory crisis", ...

"The budget problems are going to force the Vatican to do a lot of things it doesn't want to do," said Rev. Tom Reese, a Jesuit priest and commentator who has written about the Vatican's finances.

“All this by an administration that so far has enjoyed strong support among Christians,” he wrote, noting an exit poll in the 2024 election that found 72 per cent of white Christians voted for Trump, ...