Firstly I should point out that I'm not religious in the slightest - I don't find God's compatible with science much despite what some will try and tell you. I was raised going to Sunday school in a protestant church but I was rather disillusioned by the age of 13 or so. So any bias in what I'm about to say probably comes from a combination of the above two factors but I don't think they're the driving force for my views.
The one thing that really impressed me in Rome (even more so than the Colosseum) was St Peter's Basilica and the square outside it. However upon wandering around inside I was struck by the sheer excess and self-indulgence of the place; gold everywhere, priceless artworks, and statues of saints and popes of yesteryear.
Surely if any God was truly loving, all these testaments to him would be unnecessary. The pope is God's representative on earth yeah? Then why do they get to immortalise themself for centuries to come as a statue - does this not contradict one of those commandments Moses hauled down the hill? Morally apt actions would surely give you much more air miles to St Peter's pearly gates than decking out a church to look nice. If God was taken in by all this he really would be quite a superficial character indeed - perhaps the next Messiah will be found decked out in Jack Wills.
I'd never before really understood why Protestantism had begun, but touring the heart of the Catholic world kind of hit the message home. Surely people just got fed up with this extravagance and wanted to return to the core messages of their God? I'd bet if we counted up all the money in that place we could write off a fair bit of world debt. I have no doubt that the church has done a lot (understatement of the year so far) to help impoverished people, but it seems a bit hypocritical to lavish your own patch and yet preach charity. Before people lynch me, I know this is not a trait prevalent throughout Catholicism (as a trivial example Kaka gives a large proportion of his wages to charity I believe?) I just feel the leading by example has gone astray slightly.
