UNITED STATES
Globe-Gazette
John Crisp
McClatchy-Tribune columnist
I like Pope Francis, though I won’t be thoroughly smitten by him until he changes his mind on celibacy, contraception and equality for women in the church.
Still, he seems like a good man, and his humility and modesty appear to be having a healthy influence on his flock.
Recently, Francis rid the church of Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, the so-called “Bishop of Bling,” for billing the Vatican and German taxpayers for $42 million to renovate his Limburg residence, including $620,000 for artwork and $1.1 million for landscaping. The Los Angeles Times reports that when the bishop went to India to minister to the poor, he flew, of course, first class.
Others took notice of the bishop’s dismissal. Last week Archbishop William Gregory of Atlanta decided that spending $2.2 million for a 6,400-square-foot Tudor-style mansion to serve as his residence wasn’t such a good idea. And Archbishop John Myers of Newark, N.J., is facing considerable criticism for planning a $500,000 renovation to his luxurious retirement home, including another elevator, an indoor therapy pool and an office library.
The Catholic Church is renowned for its opulence and pomp, but it has no monopoly on failure to consider the lilies. Western protestants often forget that it’s the meek who will inherit the earth and that the rich will have an easier time getting through the eye of a needle than into the kingdom.
In fact, for world-class misplaced, materialistic religious values, consider the “prosperity gospel,” the dubious notion that God means for us to be wealthy — or at least comfortable — and that righteousness is rewarded with money.
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