The church sometimes acts like 3000 separate entities, and sometimes acts like one monolithic entity, according to whichever is most convenient. When I apply the duck test, it quacks.
Yes, in theory, the Pope could suggest that preservation of historic documents in the Vatican archives might be an important issue for the church, and the nearly 3000 bishops could all ignore him without consequence. If he made an appeal to a billion people, there is a possibility no one would listen. Not. Bloody. Likely.
Again, I say that if the church cannot preserve its own property, it should sell some of the collection to support the rest, preferably to an entity whose primary mission is the preservation and dissemination of knowledge, rather than the dignity and tradition of a religion.
The call for donations to support the particular project is the way the Church makes appeals to "a billion people". Its how the Church funds pretty much everything it does, from a new roof for a parish church to missionary work to the much of the annual operation of the Holy See (through the Peter's Pence). So, this is no different from how the Church takes care of any of its property.
Local improvements are funded locally, an that's great. But a large project managing the church's closely-held fabulous wealth is a very different matter. Never mind my neighbor donates to the Fireman's ball; he wants me to help put sprinklers in his art gallery, I laugh.
We don't actually know the extent of the Vatican's wealth. It keeps that as secret as it is able, even from Catholics. We can see what it reveals to the public, and make implications from what it buys and sells outside its own closed economy. From what I can actually see, the Vatican is at least as wealthy as the parent entity of a multinational corporation, and possibly as wealthy as some other monarchies in Europe. I cannot even guess at what might be in its sovereign investment funds since World War 2. By the standards of absolutely everyone I have ever met in my entire lifetime, the Vatican is rich--and not just "country club" rich, but "if they actually cared to open the books, Forbes would put them on a list" rich. I don't know how high they might be on that list, but they would definitely be on it.
And a rich man should not be passing the hat to get enough money to polish his own silver.
Yes, in theory, the Pope could suggest that preservation of historic documents in the Vatican archives might be an important issue for the church, and the nearly 3000 bishops could all ignore him without consequence. If he made an appeal to a billion people, there is a possibility no one would listen. Not. Bloody. Likely.
Again, I say that if the church cannot preserve its own property, it should sell some of the collection to support the rest, preferably to an entity whose primary mission is the preservation and dissemination of knowledge, rather than the dignity and tradition of a religion.