Is the Catholic Church wealth over a trillion dollars?

Answer 1

The Catholic Church is not a monolithic corporation that owns buildings all over the world, it is a faith the includes particular Churches in every diocese in the world, of which there are thousands. Also, the Catholic Church has existed for two thousand years now and has quite a bit of very old buildings and such to its name. One could easily say that the Catholic Church is far and away the wealthiest in spirituality as it contains the complete deposit of faith unadulterated from Our Blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As far as its operating funds are concerned, it is probably the poorest business on the face of the earth. The Vatican, which owns several square miles in the middle of Rome, and administers priceless treasures in its museums and halls, runs in the red every single year trying to help the poorest of the poor all over the world, not to mention trying to maintain and heat those structures. Anyone know what the maintenance is on a thousand year old Basilica? But she must keep those buildings up as she holds them in trust for the millions of pilgrims who visit each year and call the Vatican the home of their Church. The vast bulk of her income is based solely on donations, and it is a provable fact that Catholics are the worst givers of any religion in the world. And, yet, Catholic priests take that pittance and manage to run schools, hospitals, orphanages, etc. with the loss per capita income of any major religion.

Answer 2

Another answer from our community:

There is no corporate "Catholic Church," the Catholic Church is a moral structure of individual (what are called particular Churches) under individual bishops, each is called a diocese and is completely independent of any other diocese. The only corporate nature of the Catholic Church - as a world-wide entity - is that she is the Body of Christ under the moral authority of the Holy Father in Rome. To find out how much any individual diocese is worth, you would need to call the local Chancery and request a balance sheet.

Answer 3

The wealth of the Catholic Church could well exceed a trillion dollars. It has vast landholdings around the world, substantial share portfolios and priceless art collections. However, the Church is also secretive, such that real estimates of its wealth are virtually impossible. Where available, financial reports are of some limited use in establishing the assets and revenues of individual dioceses, but may not include 'off balance sheet' items and trusts. The Vatican has the ultimate authority to dispose of Church assets, although this is a power rarely if ever used.

Answer 4

No. The Vatican has a yearly operating budget of just $260 million. That's less than half the budget of the University of Notre Dame (Harvard's annual budget is $1.3 billion).