Matthew 7:3
An excerpt from the text of Pope Benedict’s Westminster speech:
If the moral principles underpinning the democratic process are themselves determined by nothing more solid than social consensus, then the fragility of the process becomes all too evident – herein lies the real challenge for democracy.
The inadequacy of pragmatic, short-term solutions to complex social and ethical problems has been illustrated all too clearly by the recent global financial crisis.
There is widespread agreement that the lack of a solid ethical foundation for economic activity has contributed to the grave difficulties now being experienced by millions of people throughout the world.
On the BBC site today: Vatican Bank ‘investigated over money-laundering’. The good news for the Institute for Religious Works, the official name of the bank, is that so far no one has been murdered.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
5 comments
Yeees… Gee, what a surprise. Of course, the unofficial, but far more apt name for the Catholic Church is Hypocrites-R-Us.
Don’t worry Bryan… There are sure to be some bodies involved somewhere! 😉
No one has been murdered… but someone was drowned in the mote. [sic]
The Vatican seems to miss its glory days a few centuries ago when it was as powerful as any other state in Europe.
For those who have forgotten the last “problem” that the Institute for Religious Works had involved the collapse of another bank and two murders, one by hanging involving a bridge in London. Wonderful people the Vatican hangs around with in financial circles.
Well, Kryten, you have to wonder whose money was being laundered?
A well-trained army does tend to keep “the faithful” in line, and brings embarrassing investigations to a close, Steve.
Ohhh… Hmmmm… That’s a really TOUGH one Bryan…
Though, for some strange reason, I keep thinking along the lines of, Ohhh… Sicily, Italy (especially Southern Med Italy, Calabria etc)… and so on! in the *old days* I’m sure most came from Chicago and all those other ‘God Fearing’ places.
Oh, to change the subject slightly… Does nobody ever wonder why the Mafiosi types are almost always self-confessed Catholics, who always gave lovely donations (from criminal activities of course) to the Church? I suppose some of it can be put down to superstition and ‘just in case’! 😉
Ahem. Since one-half of one side of my family came from Calabria, I know rather more about that than I really want to! (When I did find out, it was one of the reasons I decided to part company and escape from ‘Hypocrites-R-Us’ !:twisted:
I was trying to figure it out, Kryten, but I kept seeing fields of flowers intruding on my thoughts. 😈