Do people think the Pope lives a life of poverty?

Your friend doesn’t understand poverty very well. Even if The Pope doesn’t have anything that belongs to him personally, does The Pope go hungry? Does he not get the medical attention he needs? What kind of physical deprivation is he suffering from?

He is the head of the divine paedophile ring church.
All of the church’s money is his money.

My standards of the Popes ahead of him, I suspect he has a lesser luxurious life. He doesn’t need money, Property, or a credit card. His way is relative to previous Popes.

Ideally, the Pope would live in poverty, but that is not a good description of his current living conditions. He is trying to pull things the other way, by abandoning the Pope Mobile, and firing the bishop of bling.
It is still a long way from true poverty.

He doesn’t live on many luxuries. Popes do not take a vow of poverty, but their lives (Pope Francis’s at least) are pretty close to it. A vow of poverty doesn’t mean you live poor, by the way, it just means you don’t own personal things.

@dxs I think if people kneel down and kiss your ring while your lovely dinner is being prepared and you have your bath drawn before sinking into your luxurious bed I call that luxury. It’s actually more than luxury; it’s close to idolatry. And I assume he has someone clean the dishes for him?

@Aster Possibly. If it is required, then yes. If not, then it’s not his problem.
I guess I haven’t really looked into much of it, but it just seemed like he had a much lower net worth than other people of high power.

” A vow of poverty doesn’t mean you live poor, by the way, it just means you don’t own personal things.”
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the kind of mental twisting that is used so often to get around the supposed basics of the religion.

@dxs He could very well have less net worth than other people, yes. But what difference does net worth make when you have no personal expenses? He doesn’t need cash or a Visa card. Heck; he doesn’t even have a mortgage.

The new Pope seems content with living a middle class life without luxury. But he’s the exception. A lot of cardinals and bishops appreciate luxury. It’s different for monks and nuns.

I’m sure that any pope lives with the best food, the best linens, never lifts a finger, travels in the best vehicles. To me, that’s not a life of poverty. I know one could say that if he does not own it, he’s poor. I don’t feel that way.

@jca – The new one seems like the exception. He resents and refuses what you are describing. But he’s a still a totalitarian ruler who’s guilty of discriminating women. Until he changes that, he doesn’t have my support.

no.. but he understand and cares for those that don’t have it as well as he does