![\"Add](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2009\/06\/13\/article-1192856-053A0ADE000005DC-555_233x340.jpg\")
his father.<\/p>\nFrancis of Assisi\u2019s father was a wealthy cloth merchant and Francis himself grew up enjoying the finer things of life. For him, taking Christianity seriously meant a vow of poverty; this extended to his clothes which were exchanged for rags and returned to his father.<\/p>\n
Things have degenerated somewhat from St. Francis\u2019 time: today, a Roman Catholic priest, Canon Stuart Wilson is asking his congregation and associates to impoverish themselves in order to furnish him with, among other things, a \u00a335 toilet brush<\/a>. How much is the toilet itself worth? Probably quite a lot, since according to this<\/a>, the whole place was refurbished at a cost of \u00a3310,000 supplied by the congregation.<\/p>\n Wilson was an Anglican priest who converted to Rome, ostensibly because of women priests but, in reality, because Anglicans could not afford him.<\/p>\n To the astonishment of many in his flock, a senior Roman Catholic cleric has sent out an email asking them to buy gifts from a John Lewis website to furnish his rectory.<\/p>\n Among the items requested by Canon Stuart Wilson are a \u00a335 toilet brush, a \u00a370 chef\u2019s knife with a \u00a397 bamboo knife block and a \u2018deep oval roaster\u2019 for \u00a3127.<\/p>\n Canon Wilson\u2019s living quarters are part of a refurbished presbytery which has been rebuilt using donations of more than \u00a3310,000 given by the community over the past year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I bet he uses the toilet brush as a back scratcher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Francis of Assisi\u2019s father was a wealthy cloth merchant and Francis himself grew up enjoying the finer things of life. For him, taking Christianity seriously meant a vow of poverty; this extended to his clothes which were exchanged for rags … Continue reading