Posted on 10/17/2014 1:11:56 PM PDT by NYer
Renting out holy ground to make a fast buck?
"And he saith to them: It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves."
FYI: Some papal Masses and all Papal elections are offered/held in the Sistine Chapel.
I believe so....
Well, either it’s a place that’s sacred, or it’s just another venue.
I assume, since it’s in the Vatican, that the Vatican has just made its attitude clear.
Pope St. Pius X offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Sistine Chapel.
So, you have no problem with tourists visiting the Sistine Chapel where profits are pocketed by tour operators.
Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St Peter's - $79.45
But a concert, performed by a choir from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, for a group of about 40 high-paying tourists with proceeds to go to charities working with the poor and homeless, is out of bounds?
Money-changers in the Temple. Then and now.
Capitalism in action, I love it.
Well, since now it’s just a table, I guess it’s okay. /s
There is a vast difference between pilgrims visiting the Sistine Chapel and the Holy Father renting out a consecrated space for profit. He is setting an unholy example by putting God’s House up for rent.
The city of Rome has an abundance of historic churches that are barely used and badly deteriorating. The Church doesn't have the money to maintain them. Neither does the city. It's a problem.
Churches, and not just the Catholics, are the custodians of a significant part of our artistic heritage. How to pay for it is a difficult question, but I would hate to see the legacy lost.
Catholics have been building and maintaining their own churches for 2000 years.
What's happened in the last 50 years can all be blamed on one event.
Pilgrims? Is that the new term for tourists?
Have you never been on a religious pilgrimage?
Thanks!
Hardly a new term. Catholics who go on pilgrimage to Rome are often referred to as "pilgrims". Apparently the Holy Father views them as an untapped funding source for his pet projects (projects btw to which the annual Peter's Pence collection is already dedicated). Monetizing one of the Catholic Church's sacred places by putting it up for rent is beyond crass.
Neither did the money-changers in the temple. Welcome to their club.
A few years ago I paid something like 15 euros to walk through the Vatican museum. The basilica was free.
The Sistine is hallowed ground and it’s being rented out. I don’t like it. OTOH, churches charge fees for the use of the church for weddings, funerals.
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