https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Ninety-Five_Theses
“Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?”
Please get the facts. The Vatican is not rich in material goods; in faith, yes, but not belongings of this world.
>why doesn’t the Pope use his wealth to help the poor?
Sorry to take so long to respond. What would it mean for the Pope to sell the artworks and other treasures of the Catholic Church? If these forms of wealth are evil, then they should be donated to a museum, rather than profit come from selling them. As part of a museum, they could serve mankind through the uplift that is art. One could argue that the Church is a museum for these very beautiful things, so that they are already where they should be. But, if the Church were to believe that wealth beyond a modicum is filthy lucre, then it would be prostituting itself to sell its treasures.
I, however, have nothing against wealth. In fact, I am for wealth. I think wealth is a good thing. Not only wealth in the form of land and natural resources (which seems to be the Church’s understanding of wealth through the 19th Century), but also wealth in the form of treasures such as precious metal, jewels, fashion, architecture and art, music, performance, gardens, resort islands, cruise ships, Vegas casinos, etc., etc., AND wealth in the form of productive capital, either owned directly (e.g., in the forms of physical capital, technology and human capital) or indirectly (e.g., via stocks, bonds, mutual funds, bank accounts, pensions and insurance).
My program for ending poverty isn’t re-dsitribution of the wealth, but is by the creation of additional wealth. To me, the Pope, in castigating the wealth that we have by reason of capitalism, but wanting the fruits of that wealth, is prostituting himself. As a holy man, he should not covet the fruits of evil. That would be greedy on his part and sinful.
Here’s the Pope’s problem: Jesus says to whom much is given, much is expected. The Pope has been given a great position, even an exalted one. He is responsible for using his position for the glory of God. If he goes around saying things such as Jupiter has no moons and that capitalism is evil to its core, there’s about a billion people on the planet who will discover that their pastoral leader is a nincompoop.