In my mind, I wonder if you could draw mental comparisons between the Catholic church and universities. Both use an endowment to further their goals, expansion, charity, but there is a implicit desire to keep growing the endowment to further those goals. Ponder for a minute -- Harvard was chartered in 1636 and has an endowment of $36.4 billion. If the church spends most of the money it receives/earns every year, why not just come out and state it?