Thing is, the Catholic Church, before the creation of national bishops’ conferences by Paul VI, WAS very decentralized. The local bishop answered to no one in Washington, and communication with Rome was infrequent, and in Latin! So letters were not only infrequent, but short!
A friend of mine was an Episcopal priest for about fifteen years. He became a Catholic, and about five years later, was ordained a priest. He commented to me on the many differences: After his first meeting with parishioners about some issue or other, he said he could not BELIEVE how Catholics talk to their priests! He said, “Episcopalians wouldn’t DARE.”
As for living in luxury: Most rectories are dumps. Even SOME bishops’ houses are dumps. And outside of rich countries, ALL rectories and bishops’ houses are dumps.