Pope's Visit To America

405 Words2 Pages
Global Travel on a Papal Dime Everybody seemed to enjoy the Pope's visit to the United States. While a few atheist groups were as unhappy as they always are, the rest of the country was either indifferent or thrilled. In addition to the novelty of a papal visit, the Pope commands an audience bigger than pretty much anyone else in the world. When he speaks it does not guarantee that there will be changes, but it does guarantee that people are at least going to listen. The media spent much of their time debating the Pope's commentary on political and religious issues. Only one outlet it seems, Yahoo! News, took the time to ask another question: Who is footing the bill for this extravagant trip? Gerald Posner is the author of a book about the Vatican's financial undertakings and endeavors. The book titled "God's Bankers" looks at the history of Vatican…show more content…
In the United States, the cost gets passed on to me and you, the taxpayers. For example, PimpPreacher.com shares that "The World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia was seeking to raise $45 million to cover the expenses of Pope Francis’ visit; any shortfalls would be picked up by the city and state of Pennsylvania, which means the taxpayers would be paying for the Pope - whether they are Catholic or not." In addition to the Pope's travel, room, board, ground transportation, and so forth, his security detail is second-to-none, and that also is not paid for by the Vatican. It is estimated that because the Pope is a head of state he received Secret Service protection in the neighborhood of millions of dollars. While the Vatican takes in tithes and offerings from the dioceses and demands that they pay for papal visits over and above their regular required "donations", the Vatican gives very little back. It is estimated that the Vatican receives billions of dollars every year from the churches but does not help support the staff, the buildings, or the

More about Pope's Visit To America

Open Document