“Yet the poor can go in to any church and be as welcome as anyone”
Not really. They are looked down on. Second, to what purpose? The resources went into multi-million dollar facilities. Nothing left for the poor.
Not really. They are looked down on. I don't recall the individual's name but the key to his conversion began when he walked into a Catholic Church and saw a poor woman seated next to a wealthy one, both engrossed in prayer. The Catholic Church does not distinguish one from the other. All are welcome and may sit wherever they choose in church.
The resources went into multi-million dollar facilities. Nothing left for the poor.
You have a misinformed understanding of this project. Mother Angelica began this project with only a few dollars, entrusting its outcome to God. I would encourage you to read this book:
Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles
Caution! It may alter any pre-conceived prejudices.
I’m sorry, but you really don’t know what you’re talking about. Some of the most gorgeous churches I’ve ever seen were *built* by the poor! We have a (now abandoned, due to structural problems and a diminishing population) stunning old country church building near us... built as the exact replica of a *huge* and elegant Church in Poland; and the poor mortgaged their farms, contributed hand labor, networked to find an architect from Poland who could recreate it, etc., etc... all in order to glorify God, and to offer Him the very best. They *loved* that Church, and it crushed them when it was finally closed (by those who, ironically, wanted to build the ugly, warehouse-esque buildings which are loosely called “Church buildings” today... and who tore out all the gorgeous statues, stained glass windows, reredos, etc., and AUCTIONED it all off at dirt-cheap prices! The older parishioners still refer to that as “Good Friday”, even though it wasn’t a Friday. Sad.).
And you’re now saying that “the poor are looked down on” (and therefore the building should be cheap and ugly, eh?). Really? I live in a poor farming community where almost *everyone* is poor, by average USA standards... and I’ve seen none of that. But your conclusion (i.e. “therefore, don’t build beautiful buildings”) is—forgive me—just nuts. The poor BUILD those Churches... and you want to stop them, out of some misguided sense which wouldn’t do them any good at all. Think about it: if you tore down every last beautiful Church on Earth, sold every last bit of artwork in those Churches, and fed the poor... THEN what? It would feed the poor (and God only knows how many of them, at that) for about a week, if you were lucky; and then their patrimony would be destroyed. Their cherished building of worship—their offering to God (which few in the following generations can even appreciate, much less replicate!)—and you’d leave them... just as poor, but in a shoebox for a worship space... while you wave and cheerily ride away. Lovely.
FRiend, I can believe that you’re sincere in your views... but can’t you see how off-base they are, and how far removed from the actual poor’s intentions they are?
“Not really. They are looked down on.”
So, you have looked into the way poor people are treated at Sunday Mass?