Princes of Poverty: Vatican Cardinals Living Like Kings While Preaching Sacrifice

They urge the faithful to embrace simplicity, yet behind Vatican walls, some cardinals dined on luxury, slept in palaces, and lived lives far removed from the sermons they delivered.

By: Vatican Threads

The Hypocrisy of Holy Men

The Catholic Church commands its followers to live humbly, serve the poor, and reject material greed. But in the 2000s and 2010s, reports emerged that Vatican cardinals were enjoying a lifestyle closer to aristocrats than apostles.

Lavish apartments, chauffeur-driven cars, tailor-made vestments worth thousands of euros, and private banquets were allegedly routine for the Vatican elite.

While millions of Catholics struggled with poverty, “Princes of the Church” became princes in reality.

Palaces Disguised as Apartments

In 2014, La Repubblica revealed that some cardinals lived in apartments spanning more than 500 square meters (5,000+ sq ft), larger than the homes of European monarchs.

• Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, former Secretary of State, was at the center of controversy when he moved into a luxury penthouse renovated with nearly €200,000 allegedly diverted from a Vatican children’s hospital fund.
• Another cardinal enjoyed a 12-room residence overlooking Rome’s famous Piazza Venezia.

For clergy who vow to “serve Christ in poverty,” such extravagance was a slap in the face to ordinary believers.

Money from the Poor, Comfort for the Powerful

Investigations revealed that funds meant for charity and hospitals were misused to renovate clerical residences.

In Bertone’s case, €422,000 in donations from the Bambino Gesù children’s hospital were allegedly redirected for his penthouse renovation (AP, 2017). The hospital, which treated sick children, struggled with budget cuts, yet its money helped furnish a cardinal’s luxury home.

This scandal highlighted the corrupt pipeline of donations: offerings from faithful Catholics worldwide ending up in marble bathrooms and designer kitchens for Vatican elites.

Cars, Clothes, and Champagne

Reports also exposed the lavish tastes of senior clerics:

• Luxury cars like BMWs, Mercedes, and even chauffeured limousines were provided to some cardinals.
• Tailored silk vestments and gold-threaded robes were commissioned, worth more than the average annual incomes of Italian workers.
• Banquets hosted within Vatican palaces often featured rare wines and delicacies while sermons preached fasting and sacrifice.

This double standard infuriated Catholics, especially in developing countries where believers donated from their own poverty.

Pope Francis Pushes Back

When Pope Francis was elected in 2013, one of his first battles was against this Vatican luxury culture.

• He refused to move into the papal palace, choosing instead a modest guesthouse.
• He publicly condemned “airport bishops” who flew first class and lived like celebrities.
• In speeches, Francis described the Church as “sick from comfort and wealth.”

But even his reforms faced resistance from cardinals unwilling to give up their privileges.

A Church of the Poor or a Church of Palaces?

The scandal wasn’t just about money. It was about betrayal of faith. Cardinals, who are supposed to be shepherds of the poor, were seen instead as princes feasting while their flock starved.

The hypocrisy was too stark to ignore: preach humility, live in luxury.

As The Guardian (2014) wrote, “The Vatican’s greatest enemy is not secularism, it is its own hypocrisy.”

The Harsh Truth

When ordinary Catholics drop coins into Sunday collections, they expect to help the needy, not to renovate penthouses or stock private wine cellars.

The 2000s and 2010s exposed a Vatican culture where charity was diverted into comfort, where clerics played aristocrats under the shadow of St. Peter’s dome.

The question remains: How can a Church that calls itself the voice of the poor continue to justify the opulence of its so-called servants of God?