Pope Leo XIV to Give 500-euro "conclave bonus" to 5,000 Vatican Workers

“Each one of you gives your contribution, carrying out your daily work with commitment and also with faith, because faith and prayer are like salt for food; they impart flavor,” he added.  

Among the thousands of workers who will benefit from Pope Leo’s monetary gift include men and women who work in the Vatican’s bookstore, clothing stores, gas stations, and post office, along with the Holy See’s other lay and religious staff.

In 2013, the “conclave bonus” tradition was temporarily suspended when Pope Francis was elected. Instead, he chose to redirect the monetary gift to papal charities and welfare institutions as a sign of the Church’s concern for people in need.

Aware of the discontent felt by several Vatican employees to withhold the handout, former Vatican spokesperson Father Federico Lombardi justified scrapping the bonus because, amid the “difficult general economic situation” of the church-state, a pope had not died.

“It did not seem possible or appropriate to burden the budgets of Vatican entities with a considerable extraordinary expense that was not foreseen,” Lombardi said in 2013. 

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Though employees missed out on the expected conclave bonus when Francis became pope 12 years ago, several employees with three or more children are benefitting from a monthly 300-euro (about $339) bonus approved by the late pontiff in January 2025.

Under Pope Benedict XIV, Vatican employees were granted a 1,000-euro conclave bonus for the additional work carried out during the sede vacante period after the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005.

Kristina Millare is a freelance journalist with a professional communications background in the humanitarian aid and development sector, news journalism, entertainment marketing, politics and government, business and entrepreneurship.