Pope Francis Calls Again for Wealth Redistribution, While U.S. Archbishops Live in Palatial Homes

That Pope Francis, what a guy!

He called gunmakers hypocritical false Christians while the Vatican’s own Swiss Guards and Pontifical Gendarmerie are armed with state-of-the-art firearms, including shotguns and machine guns.

He admonished pastors for talking too much and called them “pseudo Christians” and “pseudo pastors” when he himself hasn’t stopped yacking and yacking and yacking, seemingly without forethought or discretion, since he was selected pope 2 years 4 months ago.

The latest: While visiting South America, Francis called for a New (economic and ecological) World Order of wealth redistribution and redoubled his condemnation of capitalism, calling it (“an unfettered pursuit of money”) “the dung of the devil.”

The AP reports, July 8, 2015:

Pope Francis wraps up the first leg of a three-nation South American pilgrimage Wednesday after issuing an impassioned call for a new economic and ecological world order where the goods of the Earth are shared by everyone, not just exploited by the rich….

Taking up the global warming issue in Quito on Tuesday, Francis pressed the arguments made in his headline-grabbing encyclical earlier this month that the planet must not be exploited by the wealthy few for short-term profit at the expense of the poor.

“As stewards of these riches which we have received, we have an obligation toward society as a whole and toward future generations,” Francis said. “…The goods of the Earth are meant for everyone…..”

“An unfettered pursuit of money” is “the dung of the devil”?

What about the constant appeals to donate more and more money at my Catholic parish?

Does the pope think it’s the poor who donated those hundreds of millions of dollars that built those Catholic cathedrals, churches, schools, hospitals, seminaries, monasteries and nunneries?

As for “the goods of the Earth” being “shared by everyone, not just exploited by the rich,” may I suggest to the pope that he should prevail on U.S. archbishops and bishops to divest themselves of their opulent homes?

From a CNN report in August 2014:

A CNN investigation found that at least 10 of the 34 active archbishops in the United States live in buildings worth more than $1 million, according to church and government records.

That’s not counting hundreds of retired and active Catholic bishops in smaller cities, some of whom live equally large….

In addition to regal residences, many archbishops acquire other perks: live-in assistants, housekeepers, chauffeurs and cooks. Others live alone in roomy residences.

Below are some of the palatial homes of U.S. archbishops:

1. Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York leads the pack with this 15,000-square-foot mansion on Madison Avenue filled with thick red carpets and priceless antiques, in one of the priciest corridors of Manhattan, estimated to be worth at least $30 million.

2. Cardinal Francis George of Chicago lives in this mansion with 19 chimneys on 1.7 acres of prime real estate in the city’s ritzy Gold Coast neighborhood. It’s worth $14.3 million “as is,” but appraisers say the property could fetch far more.

3. Archbishop James Sartain of Seattle lives by himself in this three-story house,, appraised at $3.84 million.

4. Archbishop Leonard Blair of Hartford, Connecticut, lives in this nearly 9,000- square-foot mansion, appraised at $1.85 million.

5. Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami lives with his secretary, a priest, in this 5,350-square-foot, 6-bedroom, 6-bath house, worth more than $1.38 million. A tiki hut and pool in the backyard overlook Biscayne Bay.

6. Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis, Missouri, lives in this 11,000-square-foot, castle-like mansion, once featured in an article on the “Palaces of St. Louis.” The home, which Carlson shares with a priest-secretary and 2 nuns who cook and clean for Carlson, is worth $1.4 million. In 2008, Carlson also bought a house in Estero, Florida, for $327,500.

7. Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, Maryland, lives in this 11,500-square-foot building, worth about $1.24 million. with his priest-secretary and the rector of the Baltimore Basilica. The building is connected to the historic basilica by a passthrough.

8. Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio lives in this 5,000-square-foot residence, which includes a courtyard, a private chapel, a fireplace and a wet bar. The residence was built by Garcia-Siller’s predecessor in 2009 for $1.1 million, when the archdiocese was facing a budget shortfall that resulted in the firing of 11 full-time employees.

9. Archbishop John Myers of Newark, New Jersey spent $500,000 to add a wing to his $800,000 weekend/retirement house, which includes an indoor exercise pool, a hot tub, three fireplaces and a library. Critics questioned the expense on the church’s tab, given that the archdiocese closed a venerable Catholic elementary school, the Mater Dei Academy, two years ago.

10. Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles lives in a 26,000-square-foot rectory that was built in 2002 for $7 million.

11. Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver, Colorado, by now should be moved into the $6.5 million, 13,500-square-foot center that the Denver Archdiocese was building. The residence portion of the center includes living space for several other priests, at a cost of about $1.3 million.

Yesterday’s (Sunday) Gospel reading was from Mark 6:

“Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts….”

What a far cry the “apostles” of today’s Church, including the even more opulent and palatial St. Peter’s Cathedral at the Vatican, are from the humble and poor original apostles of our Lord.