WRONG! It all belongs to “The Catholic Church”. It certainly can be sold, and should be, to feed the poor and advance the gospel. The material wealth of the Catholic Church or any church with excessive wealth and property, is an abomination.
The church books should read
Collected $ XXX
Spent $ XXX
Net profit $ 0
No your wrong. If you care so much about the poor, sell as much as you can that you own [save enough to be self sufficient] and give it to the poor yourself. Why worry about what the Catholic Church should do. Do it yourself!!!!!
And again, the art work is not a cash flow, nor are the Churches built 1500 years ago. They are there for the Glory of God. When St. John Lateran was built in the 4th century, or when Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel in the 16th century, do you think they were thinking or worrying about people in today’s world who see those as hmmmmm, assets to make money off of. So who should own the artwork of Michelangelo, some rich country club protestant WASP, some secular Jewish person, some cafeteria Catholics like the Kennedy’s, some rich Oil Shiek, Who should the Pope sell Michelangelo’s art work too? And once it gets in some individuals hands, then what, for the next whatever years, some rich guys keep selling it to other rich guys and the masses never get to see such art.
The Church books, for which you speak, do look like you suggest, ie. in terms of cash flows in and Cash flows out. But to Sell the Churches and artwork which reflects the labor and dedication and great and wonderful work of countless Catholics down thru the centuries is nonsense.