The secret costs of papal visits

When it comes to papal trips the pope gets the best of both worlds. He claims the diplomatic perks of a head of state [1], yet as a religious leader he doesn’t hesitate to make politically-charged statements about the policies of his hosts [2], which no real visiting head of state could get away with. “In order for this arrangement to work in any country that has separation of church and state, the papacy must be recognised as both a religious and political organisation.” [3] Then, like any other head of state, the pope gets his trip paid by the host country: his travel expenses, his room and board and his huge security bill.

United Kingdom, September 2010: The British Government has sidestepped the issue of whether it is paying for the Pope's accommodation at the residence of the Papal Nuncio, though it does admit to paying the hotel bills for many members of his entourage. [4] And security, the costliest item, is left out of the Government’s estimates entirely. In fact, officially they don't even know what it will cost, since each police force is to pick up the tab for its own area. [5] Even so, they know that it won't cost anything extra. They reach this remarkable conclusion by claiming that security is covered by “existing budgets”. [6] However, the police forces themselves disagree and have protested that the additonal costs will lead to layoffs and less public safety.

Despite the refusal of the Government to reveal security costs, a few details have leaked out. A prayer vigil in London, one of the three open air events, is expected to cost £1.8 million. [7] And a secret security blueprint estimates that the security tab for the Scottish part of the visit could be about £10 million. [8]

No wonder the Government only wants to admit the non-security expenses, to which the taxpayer was originally supposed to contribute £8 million. [9] However, this was before a gaffe by some junior Government employees which gave the Vatican more leverage. A memorandum about the Pope's visit suggested he might like to start a helpline for abused children, sack “dodgy” bishops, open an abortion clinic, launch his own brand of condoms, preside at a civil partnership, perform forward rolls with children, apologise for the Spanish armada and sing a song with the Queen. [10]

“The handling of the facetious memo was one of the more astute pieces of public relations from the church, which in effect turned the other cheek in public while in private obtaining more concessions.” [11] 

These concessions to placate the Vatican amounted to £4 million. [12] The additional grant from the public purse came amid announcements of the most drastic cuts in government services since World War II. [13]

And that's not the end of it. In March 2010 the British bishops booked Coventry Airport for the Pope to hold a mass to canonise the 19th-century convert to Catholicism, John Henry Newman. Confining the Pope to Coventry would have kept him a good safe distance from the Oratory in Birmingham which had been founded by Newman. As late as May a well-informed source judged it “unlikely that the Pope will visit the Oratory”, due to the scandal over what the church insisted was a “chaste but intense” relationship between the Provost and a “young man”. [14] In the aftermath of this three other clerics from the Oratory, were packed off, without explanation, to Leicestershire, Scotland and “somewhere in France” where they were told “to spend time in prayer for an indefinite period”. By August they had been sent still further away to the US, Canada and South Africa. [15]

This appears to be the reason for the expensive change in the papal plans. In June, with the priests expelled, the Birmingham Oratory was put on the papal itinerary, and the canonisation mass was switched to Crofton Park near Birmingham. [16]  Dropping the plans for the mass at the Coventry Airport after three months of preparations there has proved expensive for the British taxpayer. [17] This meant that the time and money already spent by the local police force in planning security was wasted, thus costing taxpayers £80,000. [18] Naturally, no one expects the Vatican to pay for its expensive flip-flop. And the police responsible for the new venue say their additional costs will mean layoffs in coming years and less police protection for Birmingham. [19] As for the Scottish police, the estimated £70 milion costs to protect the Pope which they must absorb, [20] together with  austerity cuts in Government funding, are threatening a financial crisis. [21]

Cyprus, June 2010: The Metropolitan (Bishop) Athanasios of Limassol of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus spoke of the

bulletproof car which cost €500,000 which, I read, the Cypriot government bought for the Pope to travel around Cyprus for the two days he will be here. I was personally quite scandalised by this news ... A bulletproof car does not fit the Vicar of Christ. [22]
 

Malta, April 2010: The Government claimed that the papal visit would cost €200,000, but this has been called by one of the country’s leading newspapers “not even enough to pay for the overtime of police officers”, let alone the other security costs. [23] On the eve of his visit it was quietly bumped up by a quarter to €250,000. [24]

Furthermore, it is understood that the pope’s personal security costs will be “considerably higher” than when the trip was planned because of a repeat of the 2008 incident by the same enthusiastic worshipper in 2009. Both videos show the Pope's black-suited security guards springing into action. To minimise the risk in Malta, everyone was pre-screened and its government “accredited some 5,000 persons between guests, staff, personnel from the forces for public order, volunteers, civil protection officials and doctors.” [25]

Not acknowledged as associated with the papal visit is the “extensive work being carried out on the country’s roads, the quality of which has already been questioned.” [26] In addition, thousands of flowers have been planted along the papal route. And at the end of his visit, the Maltese taxpayers will pay to fly him out, just as they paid to bring him there. Air Malta flight KM1950 has been chosen to mark the 1,950th anniversary of St. Paul’s visit to the island. [27]

However, the arrival of St. Paul, which this event commemorates, was somewhat different. His ship struck a reef, the hull broke up and the Saint swam ashore. [28] That apostolic visit was accomplished at no cost to the Maltese taxpayers. 
 

Australia, July 2008: The price tag that the Church got an Australian premier to hide has finally been revealed by the Auditor General. On the heels of embarrassing figures showing that the papal youth jamboree scared off tourists, the government of New South Wales has belatedly released figures on the budget shortfall of World Youth Day, July 2008. As a visiting head of state, Benedict XVI had his accommodation and (massive) security paid for by his hosts and now the taxpayers will have to come up with 100 million Australian dollars more.

In preparation for the Pope’s visit to Sydney, Australia, the premier of New South Wales had a financial statement drawn up which he said showed the papal jamboree would bring in $150 million Australian. Then the Catholic Church got the Government of Premier Morris Iemma, who happens to be Catholic, to exempt this report from the Freedom of Information Act, claiming it would be against the public interest to allow anyone to check the figures. [29] All that could be gleaned was that $41 million in public funds was paid to the race track where the event was held and it's been estimated that at least another $20 million was spent on security. Not included here is the cost of providing emergency services and of billeting pilgrims in state schools. [30]

Until late November Premier Iemma's government was still resolutely refusing to reveal the price tag for "the joy it brought to our city". Later, however, Tourism Australia released figures suggesting that far fewer attended the World Youth Day than the Church had estimated. And most of the “pilgrims” who did turn up, quite naturally took the free accommodation provided by the state and didn't use hotels. [31] Furthermore, the tourism department's figures indicate that the event actually ended up costing Sydney some 63,000 visitors who preferred not to spend their holiday in a city full of fervent teenagers. Yet even long after the event the information on the government's expenses is still being treated like a state secret. [32]

In the wake of news of the tourist shortfall, the financial shortfall was made public when the Auditor General was finally allowed to release his “top secret” report. According to this, the Australian taxpayers will have to pay an additional $100 million AUD (about £42.3 million British pounds). [33]
 

France, September 2008: The costs to the taxpayer of the papal visit to Paris and Lourdes from 12-15 September, are still being held secret. However, from the security measures alone it's clear that also this papal visit didn't come cheap. [34] A few highlights:

• Two “popemobiles”, each weighing 4 tons, were flown in by military Hercules C-130 transport planes to Paris 10 days in advance so that the police could become proficient in driving them.
• In Paris 2000 police formed a network through the capital, the river brigade was mobilised to watch the banks of the Seine, and sharpshooters were posted on high points.
• Glass bottles, large flags, banners, posters or signs were forbidden.
• About 72 hours before the pope's arrival in Lourdes, the holy site was “decontaminated” by mine detectors.Company Number One of motorcyclists from France's élite riot police controlled the entrance to the football stadium where the pope would hold the rally. The local airport of Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées was guarded by police, while the hills which overlook the town were patrolled by the mounted brigade.
• And finally, Lourdes was blanketed with an aerial security cordon extending for 20 kilometres in all directions, where radar, planes and missiles would be prevented from attacking the pope.

What all this security cost the French taxpayers has never been revealed.
 

Brazil, May 2007: Nor do we know the true cost to the Brazilian taxpayers of the papal visit estimated at 50 million Brazilian reais [35] (about 28 million US dollars or 18 million British pounds) ― a trip which the Pope used to urge the signing of a concordat.

A massive security operation ― the greatest ever adopted in Brazil ― was launched to protect the Pope, with some 10,000 police agents as well as helicopters, cameras and two bulletproof popemobiles. [36] However, at least they didn't have to pay as much as the Vatican was expecting. “Reportedly, the Vatican was quite ‘upset’ that Brazil was unable to organise (and pay for) the Pope’s return air trip to Rome.” [37]
 

Germany, September 2006: Also not revealed are the expenses footed by the German taxpayers from Benedict XVI's first papal trip, (9-14 September 2006). However, in the course of the preparations for it, the president of the Bavarian Police Union, Harald Schneider got a look at the cost of the Pope’s security: €50 million. This led Schneider to remark that it would have been cheaper if the German taxpayers had given every Catholic pilgrim who wanted it, a round-trip ticket to go and see the Pope in Rome. [38]

Of course, in the end both the Australian and the German taxpayers can afford to subsidise the pope. But unfortunately, papal trips are not confined to lands like these. The much-travelled John Paul II visited 129 different countries, few of them as wealthy as Australia and Germany.
 

Angola, March 2009: In addition to the cost of the 10,000 police officers, there was security in the form of anti-terrorism measures such as sharpshooters to protect the route taken by the Popemobile. [39] One wonders who protected the poor Angolans from police who are noted for practicing with complete impunity “arbitrary arrests and unlawful detention, torture and ill-treatment, deaths in police custody and extrajudicial executions”. [40]
 

 Tanzania, September 1990: At that time the former nun, Maria Lauda/Majella Lenzen, was working in a Tanzanian hospital. (She was later expelled from the Sisters of the Precious Blood for distributing condoms to fight the epidemic there of AIDS. [41]) As she relates, “Suddenly the order came for every villager to pay 1000 Tanzanian shillings for the necessary security measures. That’s a month’s wages for a family. But, in order to save face, almost everyone paid up. Even when they had to incur large debts”. [42] 
 

See also: Papal trips: both “pilgrimages” and “state visits”

Further reading about the Pope’s Australian trip: Max Wallace, “World Youth Day wash up”, Online Opinion, 5 February 2009. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=8475

Notes