Bishop Takes a Chance

I'm reading the history of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Thomas W. Spalding's The Premier See, as we prepare to celebrate our 225th anniversary.  Not much humor in any history but in chapter one on John Carroll, the first bishop, the author writes about a very ambitious lottery to raise money to build a cathedral:  "Fifteen percent of the proceeds, or $30,000, would go to the building of the cathedral, the rest to prizes. No one seemed the least amazed when the bishop himself won first prize.  This $20,000 award, of course, was turned over to the building fund."