ArchivedA saint of last resortWell.... How rich is the Catholic Church? I answer by citing facts that are on the public record. In 1978, the year of the three popes, the Vatican had to go into debt to Italian bankers to pay for the second papal funeral and the second conclave. Not a very impressive performance for an institution which, according to hoary anti-Catholic bigotry, possesses fabulous wealth. There was perhaps a time when the church was truly rich, but the Reformation and the French Revolution ended that. Catholicism is property poor. What, for example, is the replacement value of St. Peter's in the Vatican? Who would buy it? How much income does it produce a year? In fact, the votive candle offerings--its only source of income--barely pay for maintenance. And what would someone do with it if they purchased it, especially once they discovered it was a loss leader? Build condos over it? The Vatican's endowment is less than that of a mid-level American Catholic university. It necessarily lives a hand-to-mouth financial existence. It puts on a great show with its splendors and its ceremonies, but the wealth that paid for its splendors vanished long ago, and it can barely pay for the ceremonies. Many authors have received fat book contracts to expose Vatican wealth and produced books that admitted there was little if anything to expose. The financial structure of the Catholic Church is decentralized. Each of the 194 dioceses in America is autonomous. The roughly 20,000 churches within those dioceses raise an estimated $7.5 billion annually, which the dioceses use individually to pay salaries, run schools, and fund charitable institutions. Once a year a collection known as ''Peter's Pence'' is taken up in each of those churches which is forwarded to the Vatican, and there are other small streams of money that run to the Holy See. But of the Vatican's roughly $200 million annual budget, the American church contributes only about 5 percent, according to John Allen, who covers the Vatican for National Catholic Reporter. There is some evidence that the vast array of social services that the Boston agency of Catholic Charities provides is already being hurt by the scandal. The institution, which serves 170,000 needy people, announced layoffs of about 10 percent of its staff of 1,400 and a planned 15 percent cut in its $40 million annual budget, according to Catholic Charities president Dr. Joseph Doolin. Enough? what about your church? Peace |
🌈Pride🌈 goeth before Destruction
When 🌈Pride🌈 cometh, then cometh Shame