His Holiness Pope Francis urged that churches be given due respect as the “house of God” and not be transformed into markets or social lounges dominated by “worldliness”. Celebrating his morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican, the Pontiff warned that churches risked transforming themselves into marketplaces with sacraments on sale, which are free. His Holiness Pope Francis was reflecting the Gospel reading on the feast of the Dedication of Rome’s St. John Lateran Basilica, where Jesus cleanses the temple of Jerusalem of all buyers and sellers, warning them against turning his Father’s house into a marketplace.
As reported by Vatican news, His Holiness Pope Francis admitted the Church needs to be maintained by the faithful but this is done in the offering box, not with a price list. The Pontiff wondered if we treat our “temples, our churches” as the house of God, the house of prayer, a place of meeting the Lord, and whether the priests treat it like that. Another danger that the Pope warned against was the temptation of worldliness. He noted that in some celebrations or commemorations in the Church one cannot make out if the house of God is a place of worship or a social parlour.
His Holiness Pope Francis then drew attention to the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians which speaks about our hearts as the temple of God. Despite our sinfulness, the Pope said, “Each one of us should ask ourselves whether our hearts are worldly and idolatrous. If there is a sin, he said, we have the Lord, the merciful God, who forgives if we go to Him. But if there is other lord, the god money, we are an idol worshipper, a corrupt person, and not a former sinner.” The Pontiff concluded saying the core of corruption is precisely an idolatry, of having sold one’s soul to the god of money, to the god of power.
