Pope orders pay cut for cardinals, clerics to save other jobs

Pope Francis has said that he does not want to fire people in difficult times, even as the Vatican faces a big deficit.

Pope Francis has ordered cardinals to take a 10 percent pay cut and reduced the salaries of most other clerics working in the Vatican in order to save employees’ jobs as the coronavirus pandemic has hit the Holy See’s income. The Vatican said on Wednesday that Francis issued a decree introducing proportional cuts starting on April 1. A spokesman said most lay employees would not be affected by the cuts. A senior Vatican prelate said it was believed to be the first time in living memory that a pope had taken such action.