The Bishop of Bling (maybe Old Testament)

[_Runtu]

This is just astonishing to me:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/pop ... d=20655188

Pope Francis drives a humble 1984 Renault 4 with over 300,000 km on the odometer. The bishop of Berlin rides a bicycle to work. Yet this guy spends $43 million and counting on his official residence.

"Let's go shopping!" almost pales in comparison.

[_Rollo Tomasi]

I'm liking this Pope Francis more and more. He's setting an excellent example for all church leaders, including LDS GA's, as to how a disciple of Christ in high office should live and act.

[_moksha]

These actions will eventually draw some derision from some high flying American religious groups and TV ministries. Austerity is a treat to how their own extravagance is perceived.

[_Runtu]

I'm liking this Pope Francis more and more. He's setting an excellent example for all church leaders, including LDS GA's, as to how a disciple of Christ in high office should live and act.

I like him, too. Think about it: this bishop spent $20,000 on a bathtub. You could buy at least 10 of the Pope's cars for that amount.

[_SteelHead]

I almost posted this article over at the world table yesterday. There was a Catholic gentleman over there arguing about the value of big expensive places of worship as soul lifting. The big brick and mortar churches, heavily invested in their fancy places of worship seem a little defensive when you point out that such buildings seem contraindicated by the teachings of Jesus.

[_Runtu]

I almost posted this article over at the world table yesterday. There was a Catholic gentleman over there arguing about the value of big expensive places of worship as soul lifting. The big brick and mortar churches, heavily invested in their fancy places of worship seem a little defensive when you point out that such buildings seem contraindicated by the teachings of Jesus.

I've been thinking about that, too. I can't remember where I saw it, but Dan Peterson was arguing that even the poor should be able to look up from their dreary lives and experience some beauty and spiritual uplifting. It made me think of the bishop (coincidentally German) who is building ornate cathedrals in the slums of El Alto, Bolivia. (Full disclosure: my first area was in El Alto, and this same man was the local priest in our little part of the slums.)

My response is simple: I'm happy with giving people something beautiful in their lives, but when they are dealing with death and misery every day, they don't generally have a lot of time to go admire a cathedral. For me, the answer is obvious that we should spend money and effort on reducing the amount of death and misery, and then people might have time for the finer things.

Frankly, I believe the people who say such things have likely never experienced life in such extreme poverty. The poor in the US and Europe, for example, are not dying every day because they lack clean water.

[_SteelHead]

Yep, when you are hungry to the point of starvation on a daily basis, you worry about food much more than uplifting art or architecture. To me, meeting basic physical needs takes presidence over providing spiritual uplifts. Those who argue otherwise have in my opinion most likely never experienced abject poverty.

I may speak out of place, but I imagine that starving children in sub Saharan Africa would prefer a bowl of food over an hour of contemplation in a cathedral. Feeding them spiritually while they starve physically seems an inversion of priorities. Again, those with the big fancy churches seem the most defensive about this issue.

[_ldsfaqs]

Yet, what you just said is exactly why the church has programs in various country's for employment and infrastructure to help lift peoples lives, and then they can also be more interested in the Gospel if it so be.

The church knows entirely that when you are just trying to "survive" "spiritual" things are less of a priority, and that we are to first help people with their needs first, not simply the Gospel.

The church also knows that it can go the other way, finding God and the Gospel can change a person's life both because of the message and the system the church offers, and because of that they become more successful.

[_Paloma]

Yet, what you just said is exactly why the church has programs in various country's for employment and infrastructure to help lift peoples lives, and then they can also be more interested in the Gospel if it so be.

The church knows entirely that when you are just trying to "survive" "spiritual" things are less of a priority, and that we are to first help people with their needs first, not simply the Gospel.

The church also knows that it can go the other way, finding God and the Gospel can change a person's life both because of the message and the system the church offers, and because of that they become more successful.

Ldsfaqs, do you know of information I could access to learn more about these "programs in various countries for employment and infrastructure to help lift peoples' lives"? I occasionally hear that such LDS programs exist. I have some involvement with international compassionate ministries, but have not been aware of any specific LDS programs.

Please tell me more, or direct me to where I can learn more.

Thanks!

[_The Erotic Apologist]

Apparently he has his own video game. Here he is, the Bishop of Bling...