Is The Catholic Church “Filthy Rich”?

This is a charge that is often uttered against the Church by anti-Catholics who never seem to have their facts straight when attacking the Church.  They point to the “riches” of the Vatican and say, as Judas did, “sell it and give the money to the poor!” (John 12:5).  Judas said this in response to Mary (sister of Lazarus), who broke an expensive bottle of perfumed oil and anointed Jesus’ feet with it.  But Jesus corrected Judas, saying, “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me” (John 12:3-8).  Jesus' words seem cruel and callous towards the poor, but he was pointing out that by her actions, she used this valuable perfume to build up the kingdom of God. At first, the words of Christ seem to contradict his conversation with the rich man in Luke 18:22 when he told him “… go and sell everything you own and give it to the poor.”  The difference is that the rich man's valuables were not building up the kingdom of God while the perfume did.

The fact is that the Vatican’s annual budget is the about the size of the budget of the Archdiocese of Chicago. That money is used to build up God’s Kingdom - as is all of the money that is raised by the Church.  Here are a few other facts: The Catholic Church is the largest charitable organization in the world as well as the largest global health care provider.  This means that more people are being served and aided by the Catholic Church than by any other entity because the Church is living out the words of Jesus.

Being the largest Christian entity – as well as the largest charitable organization – the Church comes under fire more than any other.  This is due in part to the perceived wealth of the Church – and to history.  Most of the smaller Christian communities that exist today are splinter groups that were splintered from splinters from the ecclesial communities of the original Protestants who broke away from the Catholic Church.  As such, they usually have an axe to grind with the original Church established by Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:16-19, 18:15-18, Luke 10:16, John 20:21-23).

Much of the art and architecture in the Church was used through the centuries to teach the mostly illiterate populace that existed until the 20^th century.  Whereas, we now have Bibles, books and the internet to learn more about our faith – they had paintings, sculptures and beautifully reverent places of worship.  As with the Temple that Solomon built, God deserves our first and best – not the leftovers.  If the Church were to attempt to sell off its so-called riches and treasures – who could afford them, as most of them are priceless?  Would they then continue to build up the Kingdom of God - or some wealthy financier’s portfolio?