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 o

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.