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Originally Posted by CroFlames
Interesting stuff. But does the Vatican actually own churches and land around the world?
By contrast, who owns non denominational Christian churches, or other Protestant churches that don't have a central authority like Catholicism?
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De-centralised churches are all self-owned. I don't know about all of them, but there are certainly plenty of individual churches within massive denominations like the Southern Baptists, Assemblies of God, Lutherans, Methodists, Persbyterians, etc. who all independently own their own buildings.
It might be the same for Anglican/Episcolpal churches, but I cannot say for sure. However, my doktorvater's wife is the Vice-Dean of a cathedral in Chester, and I know from her experience that the individual church building is owned by an independent trust that is constantly needing to fundraise in order to keep it open. It is also a national historic site that receives Federal funding, and yet this is not enough to keep it in operation.