Unfortunately it comes with the cost of maintaining the catholic church and often less then just methods of "charity"

All I can hope is that it eventually is replaced by a secular alternative

(February 8, 2017 at 11:38 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: The catholic church gives more to help the poor than any group on earth. The historic artwork at the vatican brings in more tourists which makes more money for a continued flow to charity.

(emphasis is mine)

You know, I hear this claim a lot. But, I can never get anyone to provide any evidence of the claim. Site after site that I can find list the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at the top spot and anything relating to the catholic church middling in the top 10, if they're ranked at all.

Maybe you can provide a link?

As to the artworks bringing in money... Sure, in the publicly accessible areas of the vatican. What about all the other priceless furniture/artwork/guildins/etc... the public never gets to see? Or does the pope live in poverty inside one of the greatest palaces in the world?

---

(February 8, 2017 at 11:42 pm)Orochi Wrote: Unfortunately it comes with the cost of maintaining the catholic church and often less then just methods of "charity"

All I can hope is that it eventually is replaced by a secular alternative

Bill, Melinda and their representatives don't make you pray to receive their help.

You must be looking at it in terms of one Catholic charity. There are hundreds of thousands of them all over the world. All together, the Church is the largest charitable organization in the world. With this being the case, I find it a little silly to complain about Catholic artwork at the Vatican that isn't visible to the outside. We believe in making the "house of God" beautiful as a way to glorify Him. Charity is more important, of course, and as long as we continue to do a lot of that, I find nothing wrong with having beautiful Catholic artwork at the Catholic "headquarters", if you will. Especially since the vast majority of it IS visible to the public and brings in many tourists which helps fund everything we do, since Church services/mass are free to the public.

$100 million dollars on the Los Angeles cathedral, which gives free tours.

That's a hell of a lot of money. $750,000 for the goddamned chair the Bishop sits on. Three-quarters of a million dollars for a chair which gives not one penny return on investment.

Yeah, the opulence of the church is obscene.

We do more for charity than any other group in the world, yet you're complaining that we somehow don't do enough because we believe in having beautiful things in our churches as a way to give reverence to God? This seems a bit silly to me. Yes, the tours are "free", but the point is to leave donations in the collections baskets, if you can. Just like at mass. I'm sure if they were paid tours, you would be complaining that we charge people for it lol. Once you've decided to villainize an entire group of people, it becomes a case of "damned if you do and damned if you don't," and you'll always find things to complain about them because you've already made up your mind that they're no good.

(the "you" I use here is a general "you" and not aimed at anyone here specifically)

---

I also think it's very much out of place to insinuate that I'm a hypocrite for saying it's sad to see someone spending $100,000 on one cheeto, and that doing so is in any way comparable to how we are as Catholics. For reasons I've already explained.

(February 9, 2017 at 1:17 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: $100 million dollars on the Los Angeles cathedral, which gives free tours.

That's a hell of a lot of money. $750,000 for the goddamned chair the Bishop sits on. Three-quarters of a million dollars for a chair which gives not one penny return on investment.

Yeah, the opulence of the church is obscene.

Never mind the fact that they created their own banks so their financial transactions couldn't be traced as easily.

Quote:From running on donations to becoming an international holding company, the Catholic Church's financial past is littered with secrets.

So much that author Gerald Posner wrote hundreds of pages chronicling the institution's financial scandals in his new book, God's Bankers.

http://www.businessinsider.com/gods-bank...can-2015-2

---

(February 9, 2017 at 1:28 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: We do more for charity than any other group in the world, yet you're complaining that we somehow don't do enough because we believe in having beautiful things in our churches as a way to give reverence to God? This seems a bit silly to me. Yes, the tours are "free", but the point is to leave donations in the collections baskets, if you can. Just like at mass. I'm sure if they were paid tours, you would be complaining that we charge people for it lol. Once you've decided to villainize an entire group of people, it becomes a case of "damned if you do and damned if you don't," and you'll always find things to complain about them because you've already made up your mind that they're no good.

(the "you" I use here is a general "you" and not aimed at anyone here specifically)

---

I also think it's very much out of place to insinuate that I'm a hypocrite for saying it's sad to see someone spending $100,000 on one cheeto, and that doing so is in any way comparable to how we are as Catholics. For reasons I've already explained.

No one has to decide to villainize the Catholic church. They do that just fine on their own.

Insanely, looking at this, I found out there are people selling Screenshots of the Harambe Cheeto for over $500.

SCREENSHOTS.

By that metric, I should be able to sell screenshots of screenshots of the Harambe Cheetoh for about 10 bucks.

(February 9, 2017 at 1:28 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: We do more for charity than any other group in the world, yet you're complaining that we somehow don't do enough because we believe in having beautiful things in our churches as a way to give reverence to God? This seems a bit silly to me. Yes, the tours are "free", but the point is to leave donations in the collections baskets, if you can. Just like at mass. I'm sure if they were paid tours, you would be complaining that we charge people for it lol. Once you've decided to villainize an entire group of people, it becomes a case of "damned if you do and damned if you don't," and you'll always find things to complain about them because you've already made up your mind that they're no good.

(the "you" I use here is a general "you" and not aimed at anyone here specifically)

When your charity comes with strings attached -- including insinuating that condoms cannot help the AIDS epidemic in Africa, leading to how many untold deaths? -- well, it is devalued in my book, for having ulterior motive.

As with your post, it's the general "you", not specific.

Considering that your god warned that it's easier to get a camel through a needle's eye than it is for the wealthy to attain paradise, I find your church's attachments to material goods at best distasteful, and at worst hypocritical.

---

(February 9, 2017 at 1:13 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: You must be looking at it in terms of one Catholic charity. There are hundreds of thousands of them all over the world. All together, the Church is the largest charitable organization in the world.

I believe you were asked to support this claim, not reiterate it.

(February 9, 2017 at 1:13 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: You must be looking at it in terms of one Catholic charity. There are hundreds of thousands of them all over the world. All together, the Church is the largest charitable organization in the world. With this being the case, I find it a little silly to complain about Catholic artwork at the Vatican that isn't visible to the outside. We believe in making the "house of God" beautiful as a way to glorify Him. Charity is more important, of course, and as long as we continue to do a lot of that, I find nothing wrong with having beautiful Catholic artwork at the Catholic "headquarters", if you will. Especially since the vast majority of it IS visible to the public and brings in many tourists which helps fund everything we do, since Church services/mass are free to the public.

So, no links, no evidence, just an unsubstantiated claim.

Mmmm-kay.