Alms for the Poor

I recently visited St. Pats cathedral in NY and was struck by the hypocrisy of the church asking for money for the poor when the cathedral was incredibly opulent - everything seemed to be marble and gold. There was a huge (>10ft tall, ~3ft max radius) chandelier completely covered with gold. Now I have no faith that throwing money at the poor is much help, but if the church wishes to raise money maybe they should re-evaluate how much god enjoys luxuriant cathedrals.

I have always been aware that the church is a wealthy, greedy entity. Sometimes I am just astonished at how wealthy some cathedrals really are. Talk about the ultimate hypocrisy. If the churches could be more humble and merely the bare necessity of a structure for large congregations, then a vast wealth would be available for the poor. Unfortunately, businesses don't operate that way.

I think aiding the poor requires building infrastructure, strengthening economies, and providing better education - not simply throwing money at the poor. However, so long as humans can grasp the idea of ownership there will always be poor.

Anyway, here are some pictures are hypocritical christian institutions:
Quick question - do Muslim's raise money for the poor at mosques?