Question: Recently, someone asked me why the
Vatican doesn’t sell all of the treasures in the museums and St. Peter’s
and help the poor and the victims of sexual abuse. How should I
respond?Fr. Rocky: Indeed, how should you respond? With patience and charity. All the money in the world will not help victims of sexual abuse. Only God’s grace and mercy will help them heal their wounds and get on with their lives. That being said, the lawsuits against the Church resulting in billions of dollars of losses have helped us to take far more seriously the scandal of clerical sexual abuse and to address more forth-rightly the imprudence of ordaining men who are not suited to the ministry.
All the money in the world will not help the poor, unless we can change unjust regimes and flawed economic systems. There are very different classes of the poor in the world. The urban poor in American cities are a different problem than the agrarian poor in the hills of Mexico. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, the issue is not only “material poverty, but also the . . . many forms of cultural and religious poverty” (No. 2444).
Who would buy the treasures of the Vatican? Wouldn’t they just turn around and run a for-profit museum? Why not keep those proceeds in house so the Church can continue to aid the poor in the world? Please let your friend know that no institution in the world does as much to aid the poor, educate the ignorant and care for the sick and the aged as does the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is the largest charitable organization on the planet. Last year, Catholic Relief Services USA raised over $80 million of relief funds for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. I don’t know of any other Church organization that offered as much.
Additionally, it is important to recall, that when those art treasures were donated to the Church, the intention of the donors was that they would be available for all to enjoy – rich and poor, educated and illiterate. For a nominal fee, just enough to maintain the facilities, people can access the Vatican museums. Once a month, the museums are open to everyone for free.
Finally, the beauty and magnificence of St. Peter’s Basilica is for the glory and worship of God. We have a duty to give God our best. Recall that it was only Judas who complained that Mary splurged and anointed Jesus’ body with expensive ointment. He complained that it should have been sold and given to the poor. Judas knew the cost of everything and the value of nothing. You might want to remind your friend that Judas was the only one who complained when his friends lavished Jesus with expensive gifts.
Fr. Francis J. Hoffman, JCD
is a priest of Opus Dei and Executive Director of Relevant Radio. His "Question and Answer" column appears in Our Sunday Visitor’s The Catholic Answer Magazine.