While it sits on the largest collections of art and historical relics in the world, the Vatican announced that it is facing a 50 million euro budget deficit as it’s nearly depleted its financial reserves and doesn’t have enough cash to cover this year’s shortfalls, the Associated Press reports.

Facing an ongoing cut in donations from the parish level through the highest ranks, the Vatican and the Holy See are struggling to reassure donors after paying out hundreds of millions of dollars in child abuse lawsuits and continuing disclosures of financial mismanagement.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Vatican itself has seen revenues drop from tourists to Vatican City and its multitude of museums.   The Vatican’s  economy minister, the Rev. Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves projected 30% reduction in revenue to 213 million euros in 2021, from 307 million euros in 2019, the last year available.

The Church takes an annual collection worldwide for Peter’s Pence, a fund to help finance the ongoing operation of the Vatican and to pay for Pope Francis’s personal ministry around the world.  Alves noted that the Vatican has had to dip into the trust to pay for Vatican operations to the tune of 93.8 million euro in the last two years, and for another expected 50 million in 2021.

“This recourse to Peter’s Pence reserves in recent years means that the liquidity of the fund is being depleted and with the current crisis it is very likely that in 2022 we will have to resort to some extent to the assets of APSA,” he said, referring to the Vatican’s central bank, which manages the Holy See’s real estate and other financial investments.