The church and charity

[Andinell]

I’m not sure if this is where this goes, please move it if I’m in error.

I’m having a disagreement with my sister here… It started out with this picture, which she posted to facebook:

*Can’t get the picture to display… The image juxtaposes a picture of the Pope with a picture of a malnourished third world child, with Matthew 19:21 quoted above it, and "you’re doing it wrong, ******!" underneath.

Which, understandably. I took offense to, and I said as much. I felt she directed it at me, in a passive-aggressive way. I told her they weren’t his things to sell, that they belonged to “the office”. Cue the “false church in rome” and “whore of babylon” comments from her friends. She responded by asking how many starving children he could feed if they sold that “damned golden throne”. I chose to “take the high ground”, so to speak, and removed my comments because i didn’t feel like having a public argument with my sister about religion. I sent her a private message and told her she misunderstands how the Church works, and to stop being hateful. She said I was the one being hateful and added,
“There’s no misunderstanding at all. For all the charity christianty preaches there sure are alot of wealthy figureheads. If the catholic church for example used all the treasures they have they could feed countries worth of starving people for years.”

Help me respond to this?

 

[Brendan]

The treasures of the Vatican do not belong to the Pope, but to a separate non-profit organization called the Vatican Museums. Despite it’s name it is not part of the Catholic Church, but rather an organization devoted to holding and maintaining the large collection of art and precious objects that have been donated to the Church, and to preserve them for future generations.

Very much like the Smithsonian does with American historical objects. In fact, even less so, as the Smithsonian is administered by the US government.

The Pope can no more sell of the treasures of the Vatican to give to the poor than Pres. Obama can sell off the Hope Diamond to fund health care.

The Pope himself does not own much at all. And the total budget for the Vatican State itself is less that what a good sized University spends each year in the US

Having been to Africa myself several times, and having worked and lived with incredible poor people, I can personally attest that the Church is really their lifeline, providing food, water, medical care and education that the secular states cannot, or do not, supply.

 

[bmullins]

The problem is that you could indeed sell some of the things from the vatican and feed a lot of people… in doing so you’d lose a lot of art, a lot of beautiful things, and leave the vatican empty of anything reflecting the honor and reverence we have for God. You also would not have made a difference in the world in the long run… you’d simply have fed them for a day.

The Catholic church is the process of teaching people how to fish. They use their resources to change the world, not just one day… not just one meal… but teaching them how to get their own meals… making gardens, homes, hospitals, and schools. People critciize the pope for what he isn’t doing… but they never laud him for all the things the church DOES do. It provides the MOST charitable gifts of any organization in the world. Free health care, free food, free clothes, free classes, missionaries, etc.

But we still at some point have to realize that part of our calling as priest (and we are ALL priests) is to worship! And worshiping God shouldn’t be something we take lightly. It should be one of our most Holy Things, and the Pope we see as the vicar, Christ’s visible representative here on earth… and as such should be clothed/dressed accordingly.

The other part she is missing is that people ARE the church. It’s not just the popes job to do something about the feeding, it’s yours, mine and HERS. Is she giving the church 10% of her money to make a difference with? Are you? Am I? If we aren’t giving the church can’t do. It’s that simple. We can’t blame the church for not doing enough, if the average level of giving is less than 1%.

 

[Julia_Mae]

" For all the charity christianty preaches there sure are alot of wealthy figureheads. If the catholic church for example used all the treasures they have they could feed countries worth of starving people for years."

Help me respond to this?

How much money did she send to the Horn of Africa last month?

How many hours did she volunteer in a soup kitchen?

The seeds of our shame in the 25 THOUSAND people dying of starvation every day have to do with us wanting iPhones and hi-def, not how many gold cups the Vatican owns.

Yes, you can sell everything in the Vatican but the buildings, and I’m all for it, and feed a lot of people.

Then what?

Tell her to take that boulder out of her eye. Here, post this on her Facebook: Mercy Corps.

 

[Andinell]

Tell her to take that boulder out of her eye. Here, post this on her Facebook: Mercy Corps.

done, and done. Thanks. I don’t expect to win this argument with her, honestly. She’s constantly contriving to get more $$ from the government in form of welfare and foodstamps, going so far as to have one of her sons diagnosed with a psychological disorder that he doesn’t have to get SSI.

 

[twopekinguys]

Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day.

Teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime.

What would she propose the church do after it has sold everything, and all the money is gone?

 

[Godfollower]

I’m not sure if this is where this goes, please move it if I’m in error.

I’m having a disagreement with my sister here… It started out with this picture, which she posted to facebook:

*Can’t get the picture to display… The image juxtaposes a picture of the Pope with a picture of a malnourished third world child, with Matthew 19:21 quoted above it, and "you’re doing it wrong, ******!" underneath.

Which, understandably. I took offense to, and I said as much. I felt she directed it at me, in a passive-aggressive way. I told her they weren’t his things to sell, that they belonged to “the office”. Cue the “false church in rome” and “whore of babylon” comments from her friends. She responded by asking how many starving children he could feed if they sold that “damned golden throne”. I chose to “take the high ground”, so to speak, and removed my comments because i didn’t feel like having a public argument with my sister about religion. I sent her a private message and told her she misunderstands how the Church works, and to stop being hateful. She said I was the one being hateful and added,
“There’s no misunderstanding at all. For all the charity christianty preaches there sure are alot of wealthy figureheads. If the catholic church for example used all the treasures they have they could feed countries worth of starving people for years.”

Help me respond to this?

Send back the same picture, but replace the Pope’s picture with a picture of her and her house or car.

Ask her why she has good things if there are starving people in the world. After all – unlike the Pope – she actually owns her stuff.

 

[JNdoum]

All that everyone has said here is true. It’d be great if we all looked at this and saw the lesson in it for us to be charitable and kind with others, especially those in need, and do each of our parts.

 

[Julia_Mae]

All that everyone has said here is true. It’d be great if we all looked at this and saw the lesson in it for us to be charitable and kind with others, especially those in need, and do each of our parts.

I agree. Meet Umi:



At three months (little picture) she weighed the same as a 6 month old fetus. The big picture is her 3 mos later, after she got medical treatment and food because people sent money to a charity that knows how to deliver.

It matters.

 

[GratefulFred]

There is no easy solution to eliminating poverty. And Jesus Himself said we will always have the poor among us.

Each government has the primary responsibility to provide clean water, a decent agricultural system, a decent education system and what health care it can. Many governments are corrupt and choose to not take care of these most basic responsibilities. Their people suffer.

I had the good fortune to visit the Vatican Museum a few years ago. The lines to get in in midweek in mid March were very long and the halls were crowded. It is one of the most visited places in the world every year. Most of the art has been donated, not purchased. Much of it has been donated because the owners believed it was the safest place to preserve it.

While I do not know the numbers, I think it fair to say that the Catholic Church has done more for charity everywhere in the world than any other non-governmental agency, including all other churches and religions.

So I guess it does make sense to criticize the ONE organization that has done and continues to do the most because someone thinks the best should do better. Such critics should lead by personal example.

 

[Andinell]

While I do not know the numbers, I think it fair to say that the Catholic Church has done more for charity everywhere in the world than any other non-governmental agency, including all other churches and religions.

Couldn’t agree more.