I think people are getting a bit too hung up on the ‘living lavishly’ issue and the Pope’s personal bank account and/or material wealth. The simple fact is that the Pope wants for nothing. He has the best medical care, security, nutritional supply, clothing, etc.
Lavish is a relative term, and, yes, compared to the majority of the world’s population, he does live quite lavishly. I think a more difficult question for you all to answer is the following:
Why, when the Catholic Church is, among other things, a financial entity that operates entirely in the black and is worth billions, do they continue to bilk money from the poor followers of the Church? Why is that collection plate still passed around in second and third world countries, and even first world countries, when the Catholic Church is so incredibly rich? Why does this overwhelmingly rich institution still demand a tax from even the most destitute of its followers?
As far as his ‘plain’ living quarters, if any of you would stop and think about it, most of you, indeed most people regardless of religious affiliation, could not afford such lavish furniture in their own houses. The Pope lives in nothing resembling poverty or even the middle class lifestyle that make up most of his Western followers. How much do you think that chair the Pope is sitting in in his living room would cost you if you wanted to decorate your house with such, ummm, modest furnishings? Those plain white robes? Well, can you afford a personal tailor to make your clothing, or do you shop at Wal-Mart?
The Catholic Church is stinking rich, yet continues to tax its followers (as do other religions), to provide for the material wealth of the church that is not necessary to its existence. They have more money in banks and financial investments than most could comprehend.
Never forget that the first stand-in for Christ, the first guy who claimed that, ‘since Christ ain’t here, you all listen to me and do what I say’ was also the last Roman Emperor - he merely switched hats - from the Roman Crown to the Papal Miter. He brought his lavish palacial dwellings and taxation with him though. The Pope lives just as monarchies do. Surrounded by tons of gold, personal armies, jewels, artifacts, servants, priceless art, advisers, etc., all paid for by taxing the followers who are overwhelmingly not rich.
So, I ask you devout Catholics who support the enormous wealth of the Church, why do they continue to demand a tithe from the poorest of followers when they already have billions upon billions. Tons upon tons of gaudy gold lining their churches as decoration, gold, like that lining churches in the Americas that was forcibly mined by the natives who were enslaved once the Jesuits set foot over here centuries ago. The reductions set up by the Jesuits are a prime example of the double standard the Church views wealth with - it is okay for the Church to be wealthy, but you should not be.
To me, the material wealth the Church holds is meaningless. The true wealth they horde and keep from the public is the historical and spiritual knowledge and truth they keep locked up in the basement of the Vatican. Locked up away from us all, depriving us, for centuries.
The Pope is ‘rich’, to be sure. He has no more material wants then did the Caesers from which he is descended and has unparalleled, compared to the average Catholic or non-Catholic, access to the best our world has to offer - private jets, personal security, personal medical staff, lavish living quarters (remember, none of you could afford that chair the Pope sits in in his living room - it is way too expensive for you to decorate your house with), personal tailors, barbers, etc.
Don’t kid yourself, those protestants listed in this thread who have millions from their ministries, pale in comparison to the wealth of the Catholic Church - they are not in the same league.
Yet the Church still sends that collection plate around to those of us that struggle to pay bills, buy electricity, food, health care, etc.
When is enough enough? When does the Church have enough money that it no longer demands taxes from its followers?
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