Catholic laity call out leadership on simple living
In seeking forgiveness, the psalmist cries out to be heard by the Lord this Sunday. “Let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication.” The story above from Atlanta fits a recent pattern of lay Catholics voicing their concerns and asking to be heard regarding expenditures in the church . . .
In seeking forgiveness, the psalmist cries out to be heard by the Lord this Sunday. “Let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication.” The story above from Atlanta fits a recent pattern of lay Catholics voicing their concerns and asking to be heard regarding lavish expenditures in the church, church analysts contend.
Pope Francis altered the landscape by choosing to live in a modest Vatican residence rather than the apostolic palace, to travel in a Ford Focus, and to denounce overspending by church leaders. “It breaks my heart when I see a priest or a nun with the latest model of car,” he said last summer. “Cars are necessary, but take a more humble one. Think of how many children die of hunger.”
Lay Catholics seem to be taking the pope’s words to heart. In Newark some have expressed unhappiness about a planned $500,000 expansion, with three fireplaces and an indoor pool, of a weekend home used by Archbishop John J. Myers. In the Camden, N.J. diocese questions have been raised about Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan’s purchase of a 7,000-square-foot, $500,000 house.
West Virginia Catholics cited Francis’ humble lifestyle in questioning what they viewed as excessive spending by the Wheeling-Charleston diocese. And, most significantly, last week the pope accepted the resignation of a German bishop who had spent $43 million renovating his house and other church buildings.
“Francis has very definitely sent out a signal, and the signal is that bishops should live like the people they pastor, and they shouldn’t be in palaces,” said Paul Vallely, a British biographer of the new pope.
A number of American bishops have sent similar signals over the last decade, even before Francis became pope last year. Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, who is now the pope’s closest American adviser, began his tenure by selling the Italianate palazzo that had housed his predecessors and moving into a rundown cathedral rectory.
Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput sold the mansion occupied by his predecessors and moved into an apartment on the grounds of a seminary. Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik lasted two weeks in that diocese’s mansion before putting it up for sale and moving into a seminary apartment.
Catholic dioceses are not the only organizations being scrutinized for spending on leadership benefits. Many nonprofits, including universities, Protestant churches, and other charitable organizations, have faced criticism after providing fancy houses, high salaries, or lavish perks to executives. But the arrival of Pope Francis appears to have emboldened lay Catholics to speak up more forcefully when they sense overspending.
Homily hint: How have each of us taken the pope’s words to heart in our own lifestyle and spending choices? With so much of our economy now geared to travel, leisure, and entertainment, it is no wonder there seems to be less available in budgets for social programs, education, and aid to the economically challenged. Our personal priorities also help set the national agenda; it’s all related.
Pope Francis altered the landscape by choosing to live in a modest Vatican residence rather than the apostolic palace, to travel in a Ford Focus, and to denounce overspending by church leaders. “It breaks my heart when I see a priest or a nun with the latest model of car,” he said last summer. “Cars are necessary, but take a more humble one. Think of how many children die of hunger.”
Lay Catholics seem to be taking the pope’s words to heart. In Newark some have expressed unhappiness about a planned $500,000 expansion, with three fireplaces and an indoor pool, of a weekend home used by Archbishop John J. Myers. In the Camden, N.J. diocese questions have been raised about Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan’s purchase of a 7,000-square-foot, $500,000 house.
West Virginia Catholics cited Francis’ humble lifestyle in questioning what they viewed as excessive spending by the Wheeling-Charleston diocese. And, most significantly, last week the pope accepted the resignation of a German bishop who had spent $43 million renovating his house and other church buildings.
“Francis has very definitely sent out a signal, and the signal is that bishops should live like the people they pastor, and they shouldn’t be in palaces,” said Paul Vallely, a British biographer of the new pope.
A number of American bishops have sent similar signals over the last decade, even before Francis became pope last year. Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, who is now the pope’s closest American adviser, began his tenure by selling the Italianate palazzo that had housed his predecessors and moving into a rundown cathedral rectory.
Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput sold the mansion occupied by his predecessors and moved into an apartment on the grounds of a seminary. Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik lasted two weeks in that diocese’s mansion before putting it up for sale and moving into a seminary apartment.
Catholic dioceses are not the only organizations being scrutinized for spending on leadership benefits. Many nonprofits, including universities, Protestant churches, and other charitable organizations, have faced criticism after providing fancy houses, high salaries, or lavish perks to executives. But the arrival of Pope Francis appears to have emboldened lay Catholics to speak up more forcefully when they sense overspending.
Homily hint: How have each of us taken the pope’s words to heart in our own lifestyle and spending choices? With so much of our economy now geared to travel, leisure, and entertainment, it is no wonder there seems to be less available in budgets for social programs, education, and aid to the economically challenged. Our personal priorities also help set the national agenda; it’s all related.
Source: An article by Michael Paulson for the New York Times