Pope Leo XIV marked his 71st birthday on Monday by signing a papal decree repealing salary cuts that his predecessor, Pope Francis, had imposed on Vatican cardinals and senior officials in 2021 as part of a package of austerity measures introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision, which takes effect from 1 September 2026 with no retroactive payment, restores pay levels across much of the Holy See's senior leadership.

Under the 2021 measures, cardinals had their salaries reduced by 10%, while senior heads of the Vatican's dicasteries — the administrative departments that function as the central government of the Catholic Church — saw cuts of around 8%. Biennial pay raises were also frozen for senior lay employees, though lower-ranking lay staff continued to receive incremental increases. Francis had justified the measures by citing both the structural pressures of the pandemic, which forced the Vatican Museums to close for months and deprived the Holy See of a key revenue stream, and a pre-existing structural deficit estimated at around 70 million euros, alongside a one-billion-euro shortfall in the Vatican's pension fund. Curial cardinals are estimated to earn between €4,500 and €5,000 per month.

In his decree, Leo said the salary-containing measures had been