… in terms of tourism dollars, payouts, subcontracting, etc. etc. Indeed, most of the people I know in Italy who are not archaeologists are somehow involved in restoring old stuff, and I think a good amount of Vatican money goes into that. But it appears that my assumption was wrong.
Six billion euros. That’s how much the Catholic Church costs Italy every year, according to the first detailed investigation of the impact of state support and tax privileges received by the Church. The findings by Italy’s Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (UAAR), a member organization of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, were published the day after Italy’s new government announced a budget filled with new taxes and drastic spending cuts.
“Six billion euros per year are a lot,” said Raffaele Carcano, secretary of UAAR.
I’ll say! Check out the whole story here. Tax The Churches!