At one point in time before we had universities, science and math research was done in monasteries. The Vatican paid for a lot of that research and education. So I assume they got a lot of books they collects or had written that they want to made free access to the public by digitizing them.
A lot of people have left the Catholic Church to go to Non-Denominational Churches, or else just became Atheists. So passing the hat around doesn't work as well as it used to.
Priests and Nuns take a vow of poverty, they are not spending the money on themselves. They use it for food panties, for homeless shelters, for healthcare, for education, and to pay their employees. A lot of times churches are in debt even if the people pledge to donate over a million dollars to the church, people don't always donate what they pledge or promise and many families even with good paying jobs just don't donate at all. There is nothing that forces people to donate 10% of their salary to a church, in fact most donate less than that. Some don't donate anything at all.
The documents won't rot away they are being taken care of and preserved. If there is not enough donations to digitize them, the world will have to go without them.
Just think this is a large collection of books from around the world that hasn't been seen since the Library of Alexandria. Books that were protected from the Nazis who wanted to burn them. Books that governments had wanted banned or censored. Books that brought about human advancement and civilization throughout history.
It depends. "Priests who belong to a religious order (e.g., Benedictine, Dominicans, Franciscans, etc.) take the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Diocesan priests make two promises, celibacy and obedience; these promises are part of the ordination ceremony."
A lot of people have left the Catholic Church to go to Non-Denominational Churches, or else just became Atheists. So passing the hat around doesn't work as well as it used to.
Priests and Nuns take a vow of poverty, they are not spending the money on themselves. They use it for food panties, for homeless shelters, for healthcare, for education, and to pay their employees. A lot of times churches are in debt even if the people pledge to donate over a million dollars to the church, people don't always donate what they pledge or promise and many families even with good paying jobs just don't donate at all. There is nothing that forces people to donate 10% of their salary to a church, in fact most donate less than that. Some don't donate anything at all.
The documents won't rot away they are being taken care of and preserved. If there is not enough donations to digitize them, the world will have to go without them.
Just think this is a large collection of books from around the world that hasn't been seen since the Library of Alexandria. Books that were protected from the Nazis who wanted to burn them. Books that governments had wanted banned or censored. Books that brought about human advancement and civilization throughout history.