The Church’s wealth
Why not sell it and give it to the poor?
From the very beginning Christians have brought, along with the bread and wine for the Eucharist, gifts to share with those in need. This custom of the collection, ever appropriate, is inspired by the example of Christ who became poor to make us rich: Cf. 1 Cor 16:1; 2 Cor 8:9 Those who are well off, and who are also willing, give as each chooses. What is gathered is given to him who presides to assist orphans and widows, those whom illness or any other cause has deprived of resources, prisoners, immigrants and, in a word, all who are in need. St. Justin, Apol. 1, 67: PG — Patrologia Graeca (Migne).
"The Church's love for the poor . . . is a part of her constant tradition." This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and of his concern for the poor. CA 57; cf. Lk 6:20-22, Mt 8:20; Mk 12:41-44. Love for the poor is even one of the motives for the duty of working so as to "be able to give to those in need." Eph 4:28. It extends not only to material poverty but also to the many forms of cultural and religious poverty. Cf. CA 57.
Love for the poor is incompatible with immoderate love of riches or their selfish use:
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have killed the righteous man; he does not resist you. Jas 5:1-6.
St. John Chrysostom vigorously recalls this: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. the goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in Lazaro 2, 5: PG — Patrologia Graeca (Migne). "The demands of justice must be satisfied first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered as a gift of charity": AA 8 # 5. When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice. St. Gregory the Great, Regula Pastoralis. 3, 21: PL — Patrologia Latina (Migne).
The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Cf. Isa 58:6-7; Heb 13:3. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. the corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Cf. Mt 25:31-46. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God: Cf. Tob 4:5-11; Sir 17:22; Mt 6:2-4.
He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none and he who has food must do likewise. Lk 3:11. But give for alms those things which are within; and behold, everything is clean for you. Lk 11:41. If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? Jas 2:15-16; cf. 1 Jn 3:17.
"In its various forms - material deprivation, unjust oppression, physical and psychological illness and death - human misery is the obvious sign of the inherited condition of frailty and need for salvation in which man finds himself as a consequence of original sin. This misery elicited the compassion of Christ the Savior, who willingly took it upon himself and identified himself with the least of his brethren. Hence, those who are oppressed by poverty are the object of a preferential love on the part of the Church which, since her origin and in spite of the failings of many of her members, has not ceased to work for their relief, defense, and liberation through numerous works of charity which remain indispensable always and everywhere." CDF — Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, instruction, Libertatis conscientia, 68.
§1. To pursue its proper purposes, the Catholic Church by innate right is able to acquire, retain, administer, and alienate temporal goods independently from civil power.
§2. The proper purposes are principally: to order divine worship, to care for the decent support of the clergy and other ministers, and to exercise works of the sacred apostolate and of charity, especially toward the needy.
§1. The Christian faithful are obliged to assist with the needs of the Church so that the Church has what is necessary for divine worship, for the works of the apostolate and of charity, and for the decent support of ministers.
§2. They are also obliged to promote social justice and, mindful of the precept of the Lord, to assist the poor from their own resources.