The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, December 1864 — John Shaqi
The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, December 1864
History
The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, December 1864
Catholic Church -- Ireland -- Periodicals; Catholic Church -- Periodicals
Annual net income of episcopal sees, £63,000
Revenues of suppressed sees and benefices,
now held and administered by the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners, 117,000
Tithe rent-charge, payable to Ecclesiastical
persons, 400,000
________
£580,000
These figures give an inadequate idea of the real riches of the Church.
The _Dublin University Magazine_, quoted by Mr. Cunningham, says:
"We have before us a letter from a dignitary, whose statement is,
that his predecessor was twenty years in possession, that he leased
severally to one relation after another, as each dropped off, the
lands from which came the emoluments of his office; and, finally,
to his son, who for twenty years after his death is to hold the
land for one-sixth of Griffith's valuation, which, as every one
knows, is as a general rule twenty-five per cent. under the rental,
with a small renewal fine. So that though this dignitary did not
preach in any of his parishes, for he was a pluralist also, for
nearly thirty years, and died leaving a very large sum of money, he
managed to impoverish his successor for the benefit of his heirs
for twenty years after his death. _Qualis artifex pereo!_ must, we
should imagine, have been the reflection of this successor of the
Apostles, as he lay on his bed of death and reflected complacently
on his literal fulfilment of the scriptural mandate, to provide
'for them of his own household', no less than for the interests of
'the Church of God'".
Besides this pilfering on the part of the prelates, we must not forget
the enormous sums sent into this country to help the proselytising
societies in their work. Let Mr. Cunningham give us a few examples from
which we may gain a fair idea of the working of the rest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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