For the first time, the Vatican published information about its real estate holdings. It turned out that he owns more than 5,000 properties, according to Reuters.

This information was contained in two documents: the consolidated financial statement of the Holy See for 2020 and the first ever public budget of the Office of Church Property of the Apostolic See (APSA).

APSA, a kind of general accountancy, manages real estate and investments, pays salaries, and acts as a purchasing and human resources department.

The two documents, with an unprecedented number of pie charts, graphs and maps, are 30 pages long and show that the Vatican owns 4,051 properties in Italy and about 1,120 abroad, in addition to its diplomatic missions around the world.

Only about 14% of Italian real estate in the Vatican is rented at market rates, while the rest were at reduced rates, many by church employees. About 40% of the buildings are schools, monasteries and hospitals.

The Vatican has invested in real estate in prime locations in London, Geneva, Lausanne and Paris. One building in London's South Kensington area resulted in huge losses after it was bought by the Vatican's secretariat of state as an investment in 2014.