Easter parade on Fifth Avenue in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, 1904
Posted on 08/05/2014 11:54:37 AM PDT by NYer
CNN published an inflammatory and provocative piece of link-bait over the weekend criticizing the Catholic Church because some of the larger archdioceses happen to have “lavish homes” for their archbishops. In the process of concern-trolling for a religion he clearly despises, the writer, Daniel Burke, reveals how little he understands about the Catholic Church. Below are just seven ways he gets it wrong.
Easter parade on Fifth Avenue in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, 1904
1. They’re residences, not homes. The mansions included in this article are not the personal property of the bishops, but belong to the diocese. Every diocese in the world maintains a cathedral (sometimes multiple co-cathedrals), a chancery, and a residence for the bishop. In poorer countries, these are often the grandest buildings in the city. Typically these buildings are in close proximity to one another. Many of the cities included in this list happen to be some of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, also with the highest property values. Compounding this effect, the cathedral is usually located in a prominent location on a major street. Many of these residences were also built a century ago and the Church certainly doesn’t have to pay a mortgage for them.
2. The article compares the bishops to the idle rich, but in truth, the bishops are some of the most hard-working people in the world. In addition to attending to the administrative and judicial matters of their dioceses, bishops are also the leaders of multi-million-dollar charitable foundations and endowments and serve as the public face of the Catholic Church in the media. With all these duties, the bishop is still a priest and must say daily Mass, pray the liturgy of the hours, celebrate Eucharistic exposition and benediction, and according to Pope Francis, hear confessions. The bishops should live as close to their cathedrals as possible because every moment they spend driving around or in transit is time they could be using to care for their flock.
Highclere Castle, setting for PBS’s fictional “Downton Abbey”
3. The bishops’ residences are not exactly Downton Abbey. There are no armies of servants meticulously polishing the silver or rising at the crack of dawn to tend to massive fireplaces in every room. If the bishops have “lavish” furnishings and dinners, it is to raise money for the charities that the Church supports. Acquaintances of your humble writer who have been fortunate to attend one of these functions have attested that if anything, the dioceses spend too little on the maintenance and upkeep which befits the grandeur of these historic structures. Cardinal Dolan’s residence was once described as a “19th century funeral parlor.” According to the New York Times, Cardinal Dolan does allow himself the luxury of a chauffeur, for his Chrysler minivan. That’s not exactly the glitzy-ritzy image that the article would have you believe.
4. Perhaps CNN can run a hit-piece on the practice of many Protestant and secular charitable foundations which provide their leaders with multi-million dollar condominiums as a tax-free fringe benefit. Just this weekend, a Protestant charity purchased a Manhattan office building for $13 million. The same building also houses office for the NAACP and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Meanwhile, Trinity Episcopal Church–a mere parish, not even a diocese–owns real estate in Lower Manhattan estimated at around $2 billion, with a “B,” as in bling. Cardinal Dolan’s $30 million residence is chump change by comparison.
5. Pope Francis may have a small bedroom, but he still lives mere steps from the Basilica of St. Peter in the heart of Rome in a dormitory/hotel which cost roughly $20 million to build. If Pope Francis’s comments about frugality were an infallible dogma of the Church (which they are not), he would be equally guilty. It is exciting and wonderful to watch Pope Francis go out to minister to the people, but perhaps Daniel Burke forgets that basically every Pope has done this, whether they lived in a simple cell (albeit furnished with exquisite burled walnut and mahogany hardwoods) or the opulent Apostolic Palace. Indeed, Pope Francis is not the first to eschew the latter. Pope Julius II said, “I will not live in the same rooms as the Borgias lived!” The rooms remained disused and closed to public view until the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII several centuries later.
Martha and Mary Magdalene by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, c. 1598
6. Enemies of the Catholic Church feel free to quote scripture when it suits them, but by the same authority, Jesus told his disciples:
Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of costly perfumed oil, and poured it on his head while he was reclining at table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant and said, “Why this waste? It could have been sold for much, and the money given to the poor.” Since Jesus knew this, he said to them, “Why do you make trouble for the woman? She has done a good thing for me. The poor you will always have with you; but you will not always have me.
“[But] take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
Outward symbols of humility and charity are meaningless and empty show. What matters is what the bishops spend their time doing when they are awake, not where they sleep. Maybe CNN can do a piece showcasing a life in the day of an American cardinal. They do it for political candidates, corporate leaders, and entertainers. Why not also open a window on the tireless work of Cardinal Dolan or Cardinal George?
7. It’s easy to accuse the bishops of hypocrisy, but the same could be said of CNN. By Daniel Burke’s logic, the entire clergy–and perhaps the laity too–of the Catholic Church should abandon all worldly possessions and live as Jesus did. As long as a bishop has a warm bed and a homeless man is sleeping on a grate, one can foolishly argue that their positions should be reversed out of fairness. However, if it is morally wrong to live in a large house, shouldn’t Ted Turner (estimated net worth: $2.2 billion) sell all of his possessions and give the money to charity? If owning property is wrong, maybe the CNN media mogul could even follow the example of Saint Francis who was a rich man before giving up all his property and taking holy orders. Daniel Burke might want to run that argument by his boss before committing him to a life of poverty though.
In the long run, tearing apart these historic homes to make way for micro-apartments will not do very much. Tearing down the Church which has done so much good will ultimately only hurt the poor. The fact is, the Catholic Church has done more to help the poor than any other organization in the history of the world. Perhaps if CNN were interested in pursuing actual journalism, they could write an article about the top-ten Catholic charities that people can support, to, you know, actually help the poor.
Your quote translated:
But but but but, The Protestants do it!
Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan lived in a very comfortable residence as Bishop of Nha Trang, Vietnam ... and then he lived in a tiny, filthy prison cell for over a decade. Plenty of other bishops have followed the same trajectory, and many didn’t survive to be released.
St. Paul said he had learned the secret of contentment in all circumstances: Christ.
(I’m just reflecting here, not aiming anything at you in particular ;-).
“costumes”? These are priestly rituals dating back to the time of Christ and carried on by His disciples.
The liturgical vestments worn at Mass have evolved over time. Nevertheless, since the earliest days of the Church, liturgical vestments have been worn by priests for the celebration of the Mass. Even though priests of the Old Testament wore vestments in their liturgical rites, the “Christian” vestments are not really adaptations of them; rather, the vestments of the Christians developed from the dress of the Graeco-Roman world, including the religious culture.
Nevertheless, the Old Testament idea of wearing a special kind of clothing in the performance of liturgical rites did influence the Church. St. Jerome asserted, “The Divine religion has one dress in the service of sacred things, another in ordinary intercourse and life.”
After the legalization of Christianity in A.D. 313, the Church continued to refine “who wore what when and how” until about the year 800 when liturgical norms for vesting were basically standardized and would remain so until the renewal following the Second Vatican Council.
Yes, they were great. I think they were mostly Irish from Ireland. My husband was stationed some place (I never knew exactly where, since he was in Army Intelligence) where he knew a lot of them.
My mother befriended a little French priest from that rectory (she typed for them). He came to our home in his beautiful white cassock and we fed him American food. When my mother and he spoke about finding a proper spouse, he told her: “Every mop finds its handle.” Father LeBlanc, that was his name. Dear Father LeBlanc. 1965.
“The Protestants” have always had luxurious residences. In my town, the biggest and best houses are the former Presbyterian manse and several other former Protestant ministers’ residences. Since the mainstream Protestant churches are down to a handful of elderly people here, many of these have had to be sold off.
Meanwhile, the Catholic church has over a hundred people at daily mass, while the clergy lives in rooms (or, the case of the bishop, a couple of rooms with a reception room) in a 1960’s building where the offices are also housed.
LOL! “Every pot has its lid,” we used to say!
Yes, perhaps some priest lived comfortably in Mosul (thank God) but now he is on the run - into poverty and exile. God bless all Christians in these hellholes.
A variation on a theme!
“Costumes” is an interesting choice of word, and to someone without much exposure to the everyday lives of Catholic priests and deacons, I can see why it is used.
The “vestments” are only worn during the hour or so that Mass is celebrated, and for the most part, are not owned by the bishop or priest. Outside of mass, a bishop looks like other bishops, and a priest looks like any other priest (often all black with a Roman or Oxford collar). Not very showy, eh?
Each part of the “costume” is actually associated with a prayer and a reminder. See info:
http://whycatholicsdothat.com/why-do-catholic-priest-wear-vestments/
Note that even Capuchin Franciscans who wear a plain brown habit and take a vow of poverty will wear the same vestments that other priests do when celebrating Mass. They are not worn for their own aggrandizement.
for later reading and venting my spleen
That thought gave me a chill.
Yes, and it’s true, too. These old priests were very practical and they really loved their parishioners.
It enrages me that Christians have been exiled out of this country - after all the blood and treasure spent. And our rotten president says nothing about them. As they say, there’s a special place consigned to him...
They were marvelous! BTW, I googled the White Fathers and it turns out they were French originally - founded in 1868, approximately. They were originally in Northern Africa and their cassocks imitate the white robes of Arabs.
When I knew them, they were in the Congo. Just like Audrey Hepburn in “The Nun’s Story.”
“If you were in full-time ministry, would you have to live as a primitive mendicant?”
No. Why do you have to go to an extreme to try to justify this behavior by bishops?
Living above the level of those you purport to serve is the issue.
“Nevertheless, since the earliest days of the Church, liturgical vestments have been worn by priests for the celebration of the Mass.”
Don’t kid yourself. There are no first century references in Scripture or out to costumes for Christian elders or deacons or Apostles.
“Each part of the “costume” is actually associated with a prayer and a reminder.”
All made up out of whole cloth and pagan rituals.
Scripture did not record either all what was said, done, or practiced. Catholics believe also in sacred tradition and revelation. The books in Scripture did not fall from the skies. They were written some 60 years after the death of Christ and these books were authenticated by the early Church fathers.
Thank you. That was an interesting and informative response.
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