The cardinals have complained that they were not consulted about the new McDonald’s and are worried that they will have to help pay for extra restructuring expenses to adapt the building, including a new flue for the kitchen.
The problems allegedly started when the cardinals were alerted this summer by Apsa, the Holy See agency that owns the property and manages the Vatican’s vast real estate holdings, that it had agreed to rent the ground floor space to McDonald’s.
The US fast food company was reportedly willing to pay “a few tens of thousands of euros per month” for the property – which faces Borgo Pio and Via del Mascherino – far outbidding any other potential tenants. [...]
It is unclear whether the angry cardinals – who include Gianfranco Ravasi, Giuseppe Versaldi and Gilberto Agustoni – will receive a sympathetic ear from Pope Francis, who has famously opted to live in modest accommodations in Casa Santa Marta and repeatedly pressed clergy to live as simply and frugally as possible.
Two controversial books released last year by Italian journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi described how many cardinals live in the lap of luxury in apartments owned by the Vatican, with one former high-ranking official, Tarcisio Bertone, living in what was described as a “princely dwelling”, at very modest prices. Instead of rent, the cardinals usually only pay for utilities and, once they retire, are charged a monthly rental fee of €7 to €10 per sq meter.
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