10 ms·

How much does the Roman Catholic Church have, especially when you appraise the artwork?

wolfi1 7y ago
it is also invested in large companies, allegedly even was invested in a company which produced birth control pills [1]. But, considering, The Mormons only exist for about 200 years in comparison to about 2000 years the $100B are impressive. [1] https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-23-mn-5234-story.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-23-mn-5234-s...
NiekvdMaas 7y ago
According to the article around 50 billion USD, so half the size.
- xlqiwq 7y ago
  The catholic church has unbelievable real estate locations in Europe. The arch diocese Cologne has 12 billion in assets. If you count the real estate, it is easily at least 500 million per historic city in Europe. This is a rough estimate (area for 500 houses in absolutely top locations).
johnchristopher 7y ago
Can this artwork be sold ? Because its value seems to be derived only from insurance cost.
geerlingguy 7y ago
Note that the financial structure of the Catholic Church is vastly different; there's the Vatican, and hundreds (thousands?) of dioceses, then parishes (most dioceses treat their parishes as somewhat independent entities), and finally charity organizations like Catholic Charities in the USA (which are completely independent, financially). So it would be a lot harder to have a holistic idea of the financial health of the global Catholic Church.
jawns 7y ago
Do you know why the Catholic Church is the custodian of so much art? Precisely because it is understood that the artwork would never be sold. Many artists and other owners of art gave the works because they saw this custodial arrangement as the best way to ensure that the art would be around long after their deaths for people to enjoy. So yes, you can appraise the art and say it would be worth $X millions if sold in the open market, but that's entirely against the point of the Church being the custodian of the art. Think of it like a cemetery. That cemetery has a property value, and in a metro area it could be quite high. But the custodians of the cemetery wish to maintain it in perpetuity, and the people who have chosen that cemetery as their final resting place are counting on them to do so. Even if that property could conceivably be sold for a great price, that doesn't mean the cemetery custodians are rolling in dough, because they have committed NOT to sell. So if you look at the actual operating budget of the Vatican or any Catholic diocese, you will see that it is relatively modest. The so-called riches of the Vatican are generally things that can't be sold, borrowed against, etc.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

it is also invested in large companies, allegedly even was invested in a company which produced birth control pills [1]. But, considering, The Mormons only exist for about 200 years in comparison to about 2000 years the $100B are impressive. [1] https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-23-mn-5234-story.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-23-mn-5234-s...

NiekvdMaas 7y ago

According to the article around 50 billion USD, so half the size.

xlqiwq 7y ago
The catholic church has unbelievable real estate locations in Europe. The arch diocese Cologne has 12 billion in assets. If you count the real estate, it is easily at least 500 million per historic city in Europe. This is a rough estimate (area for 500 houses in absolutely top locations).

johnchristopher 7y ago

Can this artwork be sold ? Because its value seems to be derived only from insurance cost.

geerlingguy 7y ago

Note that the financial structure of the Catholic Church is vastly different; there's the Vatican, and hundreds (thousands?) of dioceses, then parishes (most dioceses treat their parishes as somewhat independent entities), and finally charity organizations like Catholic Charities in the USA (which are completely independent, financially). So it would be a lot harder to have a holistic idea of the financial health of the global Catholic Church.

jawns 7y ago

Do you know why the Catholic Church is the custodian of so much art? Precisely because it is understood that the artwork would never be sold. Many artists and other owners of art gave the works because they saw this custodial arrangement as the best way to ensure that the art would be around long after their deaths for people to enjoy. So yes, you can appraise the art and say it would be worth $X millions if sold in the open market, but that's entirely against the point of the Church being the custodian of the art. Think of it like a cemetery. That cemetery has a property value, and in a metro area it could be quite high. But the custodians of the cemetery wish to maintain it in perpetuity, and the people who have chosen that cemetery as their final resting place are counting on them to do so. Even if that property could conceivably be sold for a great price, that doesn't mean the cemetery custodians are rolling in dough, because they have committed NOT to sell. So if you look at the actual operating budget of the Vatican or any Catholic diocese, you will see that it is relatively modest. The so-called riches of the Vatican are generally things that can't be sold, borrowed against, etc.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]