Cosmic Charlie said:
To manage funds and accumulate wealth.
Without good stewardship over the centries we'd be as broke as most protestant churches
A friend of mine posted me privately that I should not say such things, even in jest as it undermines the chair of st. peter. I have chosen, after some consideration to respond publically to this as it is obvious that if this friend does not understand, no one else does either.
My cyber-brother:
I am offended. No, seriously.
Ok, seriously Im not offended, but I am non-plussed. (I know a little Latin).
You can talk about the pope as the spiritual head of the Pilgrim Church on Earth, the shoes of the fisherman, the Chair of St. Peter and a link to Christ Himself all you want and youd be right to do so.
But- with all this comes, necessarily, command and control system and a continuity of administration that creates a corporate, a collective, that is steered and maintained throughout ages of time.
The Catholic Church has collected more documents, preserved more art, amassed more cultural artifacts, created more enduring institutions and made more money that any organization in the history of mankind. It has managed to do all this not so much because the pope is the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church but because he is also the CEO of large and far flung multi-domestic corporation
And whats wrong with that exactly ? You want to do good works in this world you need talented people and money. The church has never severely suffered a lack of either.
Now thats good stewardship.
Do the Catholic Church the Corporation and the Catholic Church the body of Christ come into conflict with each other.
Of course they do, that should be expected. Its the way of this world. But does pointing out that the pope has several duties and responsibilities some spiritual, some worldly, undermine his authority ?
Only for those naive enough to think that the Church runs its mission system candy bars and nylon stocking. And we should really straighten those guy out anyway.
One of the purpose of having a pope is to accumulate wealth. Without it we just dont do God work to the extent and to the depth that we can do now. No one else can touch us in that area. Likely no one ever will.