From here:

The Church of England has been secretly plotting the sale of one of its greatest treasures, a set of paintings worth an estimated £15 million, despite concerns the move will provoke a furore.

Leaked documents show senior officials are acutely aware there could be a backlash if the 12 paintings that have hung in the historic home of the Bishops of Durham for 250 years disappeared into the hands of a ‘billionaire from Russia’.

The confidential documents also reveal the Church Commissioners, the Church’s financial arm, have hired a London public relations firm for up to £37,000 to handle the predicted outcry over the sale.

The Commissioners, who include the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, faced such a storm when they last raised the prospect of selling the paintings ten years ago that they were forced to shelve the idea.

Art lovers, MPs and even the then Bishop of Durham, Tom Wright, expressed outrage that the collection of large canvases by the 17th Century Spanish master Francisco de Zurbaran could be moved from its home and even broken up or sold abroad.

No doubt the Church of England needs the cash to continue to promote its “mission” – whatever that is – or perhaps to continue to house its bishops in style – including, up until recently,  Tom Wright, whose attachment to some very expensive paintings doesn’t prevent him noting that in the world the rich get rich at the expense of the poor. One wonders how future bishops of Durham will be able to bring themselves to continue pontificating on the evils of poverty without the consolation of being surrounded by the aesthetic delights of the Spanish masters.