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Catholicism: Wealth and Spending

CATHOLICISM WEALTH & $PENDING "Sell the Vatican, Feed the world" goes the urban legend. Here are a couple considerations for those who share this attitude. To the statement "The Catholic church wastes billions of dollars on chairs and cathedrals when it could be feeding the poor," a good response is to show what the Church does with the money, and to compare it to other big businesses. REVENUE & SPENDING In the Catholic Church, USA Health Care 98.6 Colleges/ universities 48.8 Parishes/ dioceses* -11.0 Charities 4.7 $350 MILLION VATICAN ANNUAL REVENUES ROUGHLY EQUAL TO EXPENSES. ITS A CITY-STATE. Other 8.5 Total Annual Spending 2010 *includes schools $171.6 BILLION Comparable to General Electric in 2010 Walmart or Exxon Mobil make almost double in revenue. WEALTH GENERATION It is more important to ask how much wealth something generates than how much it costs. A $10 million church is worthwhile if it brings in $1 million annually for centuries. That saves more lives than selling it off. Big, beautiful, Catholic churches draw a lot more people than small ugly ones. GIVING TO THE POOR REQUIRES WEALTH. EMPLOYMENT In the Catholic Church, USA Walmart TTTTTTTT Catholic institutions employ over 1,000,000 people - comparable to only half the employment of Walmart (which took in over $400 billion in 2010) AVERAGE $ALARIES $40,000 CATHOLIC PRIEST* / NON-CATHOLIC PASTOR $65,000+ SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR $147,000 MEGA-CHURCH PASTOR MILLIONS PROSPERITY PASTORS *CATHOLIC PRIESTS POCKET ROUGHLY HALF THAT SALARY. NUMBER OF CHURCHES Google catholic churches near charlotte, nc Catholic Churches, Charlotte, NC Satelite /- Gastonia mational Arport Mnt (M) Matthews (Te Google churches near charlotte, nc All Churches, Charlotte, NC CATHOLIC CHARITIES USA MAKES TOP 10 IN PHILANTHROPY 400 2011 10. Catholic Charities USA, $793,815,584 15. American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities / St. Jude Children's Research Hospital $659,370,821 51. Catholic Relief Services $294,287,000 78. University of Notre Dame . 221,615,902 110. Catholic Medical Mission Board. $177,207,054 144. Christian Appalachian Project, (Ky.) . $131,586,590 147. Father Flanagan Boys' Home (Neb.). $130,737,000 159. Boston College . .. $120,537,000 160. St. Mary's Food Bank (Ariz.) $119,703,302 214. Georgetown University $90,858,000 221. Catholic Healthcare West (Calif.). $86,286,000 288. Marqette University . $60,461,194 340. Covenant House $51,195,438 394. Villanova University. $43,483,000 SCRIPTURE Giving to the poor is indeed a very important part of the Christian life. God demanded that His "house" be one of extravagant beauty even when it was only a The Temple in Jerusalem was covered in gold and gems. 1 Kings 6 box or a tent in the desert. Dt. 15:10 2 Chron. 3 Exodus 25-26 Prov. 14:31 Mt. 23 Warn those who are rich in this present world not to think highly of themselves, not to repose their hopes in the riches that may fail us, but in the living God, who bestows on us so richly all that we enjoy. 18 Let them do good, enrich their lives with charitable deeds, always ready to give, and to share the common burden, 19 laying down a sure foundation for themselves in time to come, so as to have life which is true life within their grasp. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 KNOX "People can complain about the grandeur and beauty of Catholic worship, but at least these things are true: It's biblical to make beautiful churches. Catholicism supports more education, healthcare, and charities than practically any other entity on Earth. Catholic self-spending is minimal compared to that of the combined thousands of other Christian groups." Doug Beaumont Many of the great cathedrals of Europe were built with donations and labor from the poor, who wanted to build such monuments to God's goodness and sovereignty. The Vatican does not control enormous liquid wealth, and its annual operating budget has been compared to that of a large archdiocese such as that of Chicago. In spite of this, the Catholic Church is still one of the most giving institutions on earth, running and supporting countless charities, relief organizations, hospitals, and similar enterprises at great cost to the Church. |Catholic 'Answers Who complained that Mary Magdalene "wasted" an expensive jar of perfume anointing Jesus, and said it should have been sold for the poor? Mt 26:12 Mk 14:8 Jn. 12. CATHOLIC A AUTHOR Sources (Accessed 3/2/2014): http://www.newadvent.org/bible http://www.economist.com/node/21560536 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List of largest companies by revenue http://www.ehow.com/about 7461871 average-salary-catholic-priest.html http://www.patheos.com/blogs/formerlyfundie/rich-pastors-peoples-stupidity/ http://souldevice.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/catholic-wealth-and-spending/ http://christianpost.com/news/new-report-examines-salaries-of-megachurch-pastors-81092/ http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/catholic-charities-usa-makes-top-10-in-philanthropy-400/ http://sbcvoices.com/what-is-the-average-pay-for-a-full-time-southern-baptist-pastor-or-staff-member/ http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/is-there-a-concise-way-to-respond-to-criticisms-of-the-churchs-wealth http://www.christianpost.com/news/extravagant-lifestyles-of-mega-pastors-to-be-exposed-by-richard-dawkins-foundation-80709/ www.catholicauthor.us Vatican CC Credit: Karthick R http://www.flickr.com/photos/rkarthick/6314382090/ "African Boy' CC Credit: robincd http://www.flickr.com/photos/rugendo/2891342154/ http://www.freewebelements.com

Catholicism: Wealth and Spending

shared by CatholicAuthor on Mar 10
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“Sell the Vatican, Feed the world” goes the urban legend. Here are a couple considerations for the secular world in general and non-Catholic Christians who share this attitude. To the statement �...

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