How do I respond to questions about the wealth of the Catholic Church?

[David_Paul]

Barbarians once worked for a living. Sacking Rome took effort.

Now they want the Vatican to auction itself off and give the proceeds away.

 

[meg]

Just returned after 2 days to find all these great responses!! Thank you so much everyone!! This site is awsome. It all makes so much sense — but at the time, I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Next time, I’ll do better.

 

[Joan_M]

Aris:

A similar charge is that dioceses from all over the world send their collections to Rome. Where did this come from?

If it is a fallacy, why do ex-priests and nuns who should know better about Church operations make the same charge?

Well, every diocese in the world does send their collections to Rome - once per year! The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29th) - more probably the Sunday nearest to the feast, is the one day when the collections taken up are sent to Rome. And, it is not an enormous amount, either!

Ex-priests and nuns actually do know better, but, because they are “ex”, they are bitter and spread lies and exaggerations. Pray for them.

 

[Sgt_Sweaters]

Here was the CA apologist’s answer to the same question:

According to Vatican correspondent John L. Allen Jr. in his book All the Pope’s Men, one reason that the Vatican doesn’t sell off such treasures is that the Vatican doesn’t believe that the treasures are the Vatican’s to sell. They are considered the patrimony of mankind, entrusted to the Vatican for safekeeping, and cannot be sold or borrowed against. Indeed, the Vatican values them at one euro each for purposes of internal bookkeeping and spends a great deal of money to preserve the treasures for future generations.

If such treasures were sold and the money given to the poor, that money would soon be gone and mankind would be culturally impoverished by the loss of such artifacts into private hands. Besides, it is not offensive to religious sensibilities for a Church to maintain such beautiful treasures for the glory of God. If the Temple in Jerusalem could be richly ordained in order to glorify God and to inspire human worship, the universal Church of God can be richly ordained for the same purposes.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=51486

 

[Thal59]

My uncle, a retired Carmelite priest, once told me, around 20 years ago, that if the church were to sell everyhting it had, it could give every man, woman, and child on the earth about $3.15 each. I suppose since then, the total would go up a buck or two because of inflation. But what would be the point?

Do the Protestants think that we can “buy-off” poverty once and for all? Only a fool would sell the accumulated gifts the church has received over 2,000 years to buy every person on earth one McDonalds happy meal.

Thal59

 

[Philip_P]

In addition to these great posts, I’d also point out that the Church’s wealth is “public,” shared for the benefit of the entire Catholic community. When I go into a Cathedral, or visit the Vatican Museum, that’s beauty that’s there for everyone, not hidden away in some private collector’s home. Grand Central is a beautiful building - would it be better for the City of New York to sell it to a private entity and give the money to its citizens? Or should all the books in the NYPL system be sold to private libraries, denying the average New Yorker access to all this wealth of knowledge? I’m sure you can come up with similar examples specific to your town or city.

There’s something ennobling and spiritually uplifiting in art. Isn’t it better when it’s there for all humanity, as in the great Cathedrals and Church museums, rather than hidden away like a lamp under a bushel basket?

 

[slinky1882]

Philip P:

In addition to these great posts, I’d also point out that the Church’s wealth is “public,” shared for the benefit of the entire Catholic community. When I go into a Cathedral, or visit the Vatican Museum, that’s beauty that’s there for everyone, not hidden away in some private collector’s home. Grand Central is a beautiful building - would it be better for the City of New York to sell it to a private entity and give the money to its citizens? Or should all the books in the NYPL system be sold to private libraries, denying the average New Yorker access to all this wealth of knowledge? I’m sure you can come up with similar examples specific to your town or city.

There’s something ennobling and spiritually uplifiting in art. Isn’t it better when it’s there for all humanity, as in the great Cathedrals and Church museums, rather than hidden away like a lamp under a bushel basket?

Wonderfully put . And the fact as well on being “public” is that the Church preserves the treasures of time for all as Holy Mother Church is the Sacrament for the world. Anyone can get into the Vatican to see these treasures brought together without discrimination on Ethinicity, Creed or Sex. Thanks and God Bless.

 

[Thal59]

After having visited the Vatican treasures in Rome, some in-laws are very critical of the Church for the wealth of treasures displayed there. They feel some of these treasures should be sold to provide for the poor and needy. How do I respond to this?!
Thanks.

Heres another way to look at it. No other institution has promoted and developed education, health care, and art for humanity as the Catholic church. Historically, whenever Protestant movements first arose, they killed priests, burned Catholic founded universities, and smashed altars and art.

Statues and paintings were not only visible signs of the inspiration of God through man, they were also the “books” of the illiterate. A whole story could be told, and artistically appreciated, by those masses of humanity who for over 16 centuries could not read or write by viewing and contemplating such images, especially if the story was being told by an educated clergy or lay person. Such art became a sort of visual aid to the uneducated, not just a work of beauty. (This is a part of the natural development of human education the Protestants are unaware of as they did not exist before the printing press.)

You might want to ask your in-laws how much time, effort, and money they give to the poor and needy each year. Just for fun, ask them why they have not sold their house, moved into a lesser expensive mobile home, and given the rest of the money their house fetched to the poor. Or perhaps you could ask them why they don’t buy a cheaper car, resist dining out in restaurants, or refuse to attend theater or sporting events so they can take that money and be charitable with it.

Just a thought.

Thal59

 

[Chris_Jacobsen]

People who complain that the Catholic Church is wealthy have no problem when it comes to spending hundreds of millions of dollars on stadiums, gambling casinos, and amusement parks.

If a city can afford to spend $400,000,000 on a baseball or football stadium, it can spend $800,000,000 on a cathedral to honor God.

I read recently that someone wants to build a $12 billion gambling casino in Las Vegas. I suggest that the people in Las Vegas get their priorities straight and build a $24 billion cathedral.

 

[StevenAC]

There is no question that the art in the Vatican is spiritually moving. Before literacy, the Church used art to teach and preach to the masses. It still does. In addition, the artwork inspires us and glorifies God as no other created thing does. I am glad the Church has the art it does, even though having it is probably a financial liability, it is all worth it! I really enjoyed this thread, thanks Meg! SAC

 

[jimmytoes]

Aris:

If it is a fallacy, why do ex-priests and nuns who should know better about Church operations make the same charge?

I’m reminded of the story of Archbishop Sheen giving a talk to a group of priests. One of the priests was angry about the wealth of the Church, and wanted to know why they didn’t sell stuff, etc. Afterwards, Archbishop Sheen asked the priest privately “How much did you steal?” and the priest broke down and admitted he had been skimming from the collections.

challenger:

Tell the truth. Cardinals don’t need silk robes. However, this does not affect the divine status of the Catholic Church, nor infallibility.

Sorry, I’m lost here. What does the fabric have to do with it? Too showy? Too expensive? What does this have to do with truth?

 

[Cubsfan]

I took the USO tour of the Vatican about two years ago and I believe that they tour guide told us that much of the art works were donated to the vatican as part of peoples wills or as permanent loans. In effect the Vatican can have permanent possession, but can’t sell these artworks.