Hello everyone,
Many of us are concerned by the attitude of the WTS toward the poor, should remember what was written , few years ago , on the same
subject but looking at the Catholic Church failure:
*** w88 8/15 31 Insight on the News ***
Concern for the Poor?
How can the gap that separates the poor from the rich be bridged? This was the issue considered by Pope John Paul II in a recent encyclical entitled Sollicitudo rei socialis (The Social Concern). The pope held that the church should feel obliged to relieve the misery of those who are suffering. How? “Faced by cases of need, one cannot ignore them in favour of superfluous church ornaments and costly furnishings for divine worship; on the contrary it could be obligatory to sell these goods in order to provide food, drink, clothing and shelter for those who lack these things.”
However, commenting on the pope’s encyclical, Vatican expert Domenico Del Rio observed in La Repubblica: “It is clear that people will now be waiting to see the . . . pope himself, and those round about him, set the example. The Vatican basilica and the basilicas of Rome are full of ‘costly furnishings,’ perhaps also of ‘superfluous church ornaments.’” Yet, according to Fortune magazine, “Vatican officials bristle at the idea of parting with so much as a Grecian urn to raise cash.”
When Jesus instructed a wealthy ruler to ‘sell all his belongings and distribute the money to the poor,’ that man was unwilling to do so. He “went off grieved, for he was holding many possessions.” Rightly, Jesus warned: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”—Mark 10:21, 22; Matthew 6:21."
Well, we do all agree that " CHARITY " starts at home….???
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Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
Pensylvania Reg. # 11-1857820
Year Ended August 31, 1998
BALANCE SHEET 1998 / 1997
Assets
Cash and short-term investments $296,522,535 / 209,383,368
Current receivables 10,849,287 / 7,078,760
Long-term receivables 277,421,320 / 267,435,970
Property and equipment 120,697,680 / 120,547,679
TOTAL ASSETS 705,130,822 / 604,445,777
Liabilities
Accounts payable & accrued liabilities $ 2,414,924 / 794,524
Conditional donations 7,489,654 / 8,743,636
Long-term payables 61,002,396 / 37,503,266
TOTAL LIABILITIES 70,906,974 / 47,041,426
NET ASSETS $634,223,848 / 604,445,777
COMBINED STATEMENT OF REVENUES AND CHANGES IN NET ASSETS
Revenues
Donations $ 47,443,713 / 54,722,984
Interest 24,925,594 / 20,504,081
Kingdom Hall Assistance Fund 3,218,791 / 3,900,595
Royalties, Rent and Other 3,519,062 / 2,928,113
TOTAL REVENUES 79,107,160 / 82,055,773
Expenses
Kingdom Hall Assistance Fund $ 2,123,945 / 2,485,514
TOTAL EXPENSES 2,287,663 / 2,670,325
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS $ 76,819,497 / 79,385,448
Net Assets At Beginning of Period 557,404,351 / 469,616,477
Prior period adjustment 0 / 8,402,426
NET ASSETS AT END OF PERIOD $634,223,848 / 557,404,351
Edited by - expatbrit on 14 May 2001
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*******Thanks again Expatbrit,
Agape J.C. MacHislopp