Visitors will be at their own expense: the church of Saint-Louis-des-Français in Rome is under construction and most of its treasures are not visible. For the moment, only the nave is accessible. The two naves as well as the ten side chapels are hidden from the public by tarpaulins and scaffolding, hiding in particular the priceless treasures Cycle of Saint MatthewCaravaggio’s work, which draws hundreds of thousands of curious visitors every year. The work was decided a few months ago and should be completed by early December. The aim is to redo all the obsolete electrical installations and the lighting in the church, protecting everything from the risk of fire.
This is undoubtedly the most visible and immediate consequence of the visit to Rome by the judges of the Court of Auditors, who on 3 September presented a detailed and damning report on the management of the French religious establishments in Rome and in Lorette, an institution that owned significant real estate assets, which until then had escaped all control despite countless warnings.
The result of a series of donations, some dating back to the Middle Ages and established in 1793 under the patronage of Cardinal de Bernis, this estate comprises five churches in the centre of Rome (Saint-Louis-des-Français, Saint-Yves-des-Bretons, Saint-Claude-des-Bourguignons, Saint-Nicolas-des-Lorrains and Trinité-des-Monts). But the Pieux Etablissements also own thirteen buildings in the centre of the Italian capital, i.e. 180 rental properties, offices, shops and apartments (including accommodation for the newspaper’s correspondent). World in Rome, whose market value was estimated at the end of the 2010s at 250 million euros. Each year they provide 4.5 million euros of income that allow the maintenance of the churches and the religious community of Saint-Louis, and generate surpluses that, over the years, have ended up forming insignificant non-profit savings (more than 20 million euros).
The complex, placed under the supervision of the French Embassy to the Holy See, is run by an administrator (religious) and a treasurer (secular), assisted by a “congregation” where lay people and religious are on equal terms. But over time it began to operate uncontrolled. How could it have been otherwise when diplomats posted in Rome are there only for three or four years, while some administrators or treasurers remain in their posts for several decades?
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