Maybe people just want to chip in. If there'd been an option to donate to rebuild the WTC, I think a lot of people would've contributed to that too.
On a side note, I heard some idiots have been using this to criticize the French president. Yeah, there are legit reasons to complain about Manny Macaroon, but how was this in any way his fault?
If individual people decide on their own that they want to give the Catholic Church a bunch of money, that's fine. I still think it's about as sensible as giving charity to Jeff Bezos, but at the end of the day, it's their money and they can do with it what they want. It's the Catholic Church going around hat in hand, particularly to governments, that I have a problem with. They have no business begging for money, they can already afford it just fine.