That depends on what you mean by “rich.” The accusation is leveled that the Catholic Church hoards money while it lets its members starve, and that such dire poverty is not seen in nations where Protestantism is the majority religion. The implication here is that Catholic countries are inherently “poor,” while Protestant countries tend to be more affluent, and this somehow represents the “truthfulness” of Protestantism. Of course, said accusations fail to recognize the influence of godless Marxism in some of these poorer countries, but that’s another topic.
First and foremost, let’s get a few things straight. The Catholic Church is not “rich.” It’s the largest charitable organization in the world; feeding, sheltering and clothing more people than any other. It’s also the largest provider of free educational and medical services on the planet. If you want to say the Catholic Church is “rich” in that it has a lot of resources to draw upon, that is one thing, but to say it hordes its money while letting its members languish in poverty is completely and totally false.
Priests and bishops usually take vows of poverty, which means they get paid a very meager salary, and usually own very few possessions. They usually live in very humble apartments or share houses with other clergy.
As for the instruments and edifices of Catholic worship; such as beautiful altars, vestments, silverware, shrines and massive basilicas, we must remember that these were donated by the people, specifically for the purpose of worship. This is because, in spite of their economic state in life, they want to worship God in a dignified way fitting for the Divine King Jesus. Thus, these things are dedicated to God alone. Priests and bishops do not “own” them. They belong to God, and they are donated to him by the people. This is absolutely Biblical when we consider the Old Testament descriptions of Temple worship during ancient times.
It’s more than that however, unlike many Protestant churches, which are based primarily in the rich industrialized world, the Catholic Church is truly a universal Church, which is primarily based in the developing third-world. Thus, the Catholic Church is truly a Church of the poor. That being said, she champions the rights of the poor, which consist of many things, but one of those rights is the right to worship God in the same way the rich would, showing no distinction or partiality between rich and poor. We see this same advocating for the poor in the Temple worship of the Jews during ancient times.1 The rich would bring their lambs and oxen for sacrifice, while the poor brought their pigeons and turtle-doves, or just flour in cases of extreme poverty, but the priest would show no partiality between them. Everyone offered their sacrifices equally in the same glorious Temple of marble and gold, which was dedicated exclusively to God for use by everyone. A similar mentality holds true in the Catholic Church. The poor may be poor, but that does not prohibit them from being brought into the “palace” of King Jesus– a Catholic parish or basilica. It is, after all, just as much for them as for the rich and middle class.
It’s a common assumption, and a false one, that the Catholic Church hordes money because of the beautiful instruments and edifices of Catholic worship. Such assumptions only illustrate a lack of understanding of what these things are for, and a lack of understanding of how the Catholic Church uses the overwhelming vast majority of its resources to help the poor.
- Leviticus 5:11
Was this short article helpful? If so, consider getting the book: Catholic by Choice by Shane Schaetzel. This short article is an excerpt from the book Catholic by Choice which has been used by clergy and catechists throughout North America in OCIA (RCIA) and other Catholic education programs. You can get the whole thing, in one short book, by clicking here.
