Religion: Vatican Pay Raise

The big news of the week in Vatican City was a raise. Pope John XXIII is giving pay hikes to about 5,000 lay and clerical employees of the Holy See.

Curia cardinals will probably be raised $100 from their present $800 a month; archbishops and bishops from $240-$275 to $265-$335. Pay of manual workers—the blue-overalled sanpietrini—will go from about $82 to about $112, with family allowances sharply up from $8 for a wife and $8 for each child to $16 for a wife and $19.70 per child.

With the low rents in Vatican apartments and the rock-bottom prices at Vatican City stores, this...