Srsly...

“. . . this morning, I flushed my toilet with a solid gold lever edged with diamonds and at this very moment, bishops and cardinals are using a bathroom on the second floor of the papal palace which trappings, I am told, would draw more than fifty million dollars at auction . . . Believe me, one day, we who live in opulence, while so many are dying because they have nothing, will have to answer to Jesus as to why we have not carried out His instruction, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself.’ We, the clergy of the Church together with our congregations, who substitute gold and pomp and ceremony in place of Christ’s instruction, who judge our masquerade of singing His praises to be more precious than human life, will have the most to explain.” ~ John Paul I

"Vatican property worth $1.2bn From correspondents in Vatican City, 11 jul, 2003

"The Vatican's real estate is worth about 700 million euro ($1.21 billion), not including its priceless art treasures, (according to) Ivan Ruggiero, the Holy See's chief accountant.
Of course, the value of the real estate holding was calculated without taking into account its real value on the market," Ruggiero said. And of course, the vast artistic holding of the Holy See was not taken into account, since it is a priceless and non-commercial holding," he added. (Because of it being "priceless, the value of the art treasures has been listed as "One Euro").
St Peter's Basilica ranks in the latter category, beyond market values."
[ from http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au ]

Just sayin'

The moral and financial corruption of the church should be deeply disturbing to all rational and good people.

I think it's important to note that charity is a very large part of both the Catholic and Orthodox churches (and others, but mentioned as pictured).

However, there is a reasoning behind setting aside a portion of tithes and so on to put towards the adornment of the houses and representatives of God.

You don't have to agree with it, obviously, but before people cry hypocrisy and whatnot, it's important to at least understand that some people have substantial reasons for their beliefs or behaviors- it's not a simple case of saying this and doing that.

On one other (important) note, the vestments and decorations themselves are fairly inexpensive, and many of them (much of the metal adornment) are handed down successively. The costs vary, obviously, but it's comparable to the cost of a business suit.

In short, this apparent criticism is a little bit of a cheap one, and more so in light of these considerations (or so I feel, anyway). There are much more legitimate issues that could be raised.

Just another drop in the bottomless well of religious hypocrisy.

Its exactly what happened several centuries ago.....

People(Humans) are too slow that they are being manipulated in front of them, when it comes to religion..