Why does the church hold on to the billions of dollars they have when people are starving and homeless?

Question

I know this is in 2002 but still http://www.vaticanbankclaims.com/worldly.htm

Money is not the root of all evil greed is.

By the way i didnt say that the church does not give out money for charities but if you have a continous income which is people donating to the church then why hold on to such a substantial amount. And if they dont have billions were do they get the money to pay 100's of millions for theses lawsuits.

Answer 1

The "church" like a university must have an endowment so it can exist and have a nest egg for the future and to grow. If they spent all their money on good deeds on this generation then there would be no more church and no more help for those in need in the future. Unfortunately there will always be the poor and destitute in the world if we all don't kill each other first.

Answer 2

It's an interesting question, and obviously the church is a real money making machine.

But the part that really shows their character is that with the 'billions' that you mention being the obvious stuff... all that incredible art they hold possession of is valued within the "billion" statement you made as worth 1 penny!!

Yes, 1 penny.

They say the art is priceless, so they don't even include that when they talk about their wealth.

Hypocrites... just like the religious leaders of Jesus' day. Nothing has changed, and a real reading of the bible shows the parallel between then and now.

Answer 3

Good question.
Churches often times have money invested in things they know will guarantee a return to insure at least part of their budget.
Often, the money or whatever is willed to the church after the member passes on to the next part of life.
I know many churches do not have this sort of set-up. They struggle to make their bills, and usually can, but there's no pot of gold laying behind the baptistry, or in the coat room, ready to be dipped into.
Churches, if they take the Word seriously are actively engaged in dealing with the social issues. Many scrape to meet their own obligations because they put those very works before their needs.

Answer 4

The Churches where I am, are closing down at quite a fast rate, where am I? The Scottish Borders, They are being turned into blocks of flats, Restaurants, why is this happening? Because the Minister has not got a Brain, Glad to hear in America they are being turned into soup kitchens, America at least has got a brain I see, the Church across the other side of the road from myself shut down last year, come on, sale of the land, GUESS?

Answer 5

The Catholic Church has 1,000 of diocese which have independent finances. The Vatican has no influence over them.

The simple fact is that the Vatican's wealth is shared among anyone who wants to share in it. Its wealth is mostly art and real estate. The churches are open to visitors, and the art is available for viewing either in the churches or in the Vatican museum.

Here is the Financial Statement for 2006 from the Vatican.
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=80562


"VATICAN CITY, JUL 6, 2007 (VIS) - Cardinal Sergio Sebastiani, president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, announced this morning in a press conference on the Holy See consolidated financial statements for 2006 that the year closed with a surplus of 2.4 million euro. This, he said, "represents a lower value following the results of 2005 (9.7 million euro) and of 2004 (3.08 million euro).""

That translates to about $3.2 million USD, not much in the way of "amassed wealth"


But the Church does have world wide charities and non-profit hospitals, universities, etc.

Far more than any Protestant Church.

“Show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Answer 6

Wow, I don't know of any church that has billions of dollars. I mean, most can't even pay the pastor a decent salary.

If you mean the "church" as in everyone, everywhere who is a Christian (the universal church of people), you are correct that individuals should give more. The average percent donated to charity in the USA is only 2.6 %. That is only one quarter of the tithe that is supposed to be given......

Answer 7

The church is a business, like any other business. Poor, starving people do not donate to the church so the church sees no advantage in keeping them alive.

10% of nothing is nothing.

Besides, the Pope needs solid gold bathroom fixtures and these are expensive. You'd have to not feed an awfully lot of starving people just to get one gold faucet.

Answer 8

It shows where their values are. It has been for centuries. God and His Word are far back in the pack of priorities. They killed a lot of people to get that wealth and have no intention of letting it go.

The new lot of televangelists don't kill. They just by cheat and fraud get their money. Showing poor little barefoot kid and how much they need money for them while only a small portion may actually help the kids.

Doing anything costs money. Jesus said in Matthew 10:8 we received this knowledge free, to give it freely.

Answer 9

well i know you are not talking about the catholic church because.... with the simplist of research you would be able to see....
Together, with the local, diocesan Catholic Charities affiliates, Catholic Charities is the second largest social service provider in the United States and it is only surpassed by the US Federal Government. Often, this means that the CCUSA network is able to provide assistance which other agencies are simply unable to provide or in circumstances where the other assistance is insufficient to provide the necessary aid.

Answer 10

Ok, the church holds on to the billions of dollars they have so they can help those that are starving and homeless.

I also know the US government holds on to billions of dollars and WHAT are they doing for people who are starving and homeless?