General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy do Catholics
spend so much money to keep the leaders (from Pope on down) living so well.
I wonder how many millions it takes to keep up the Vatican et.al.?
hunter
(38,354 posts)Like man?
trumad
(41,692 posts)What?
An even stranger religion is Apple...
saturnsring
(1,832 posts)Iggo
(47,603 posts)saturnsring
(1,832 posts)cleanhippie
(19,705 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)Then he stole the idea of a GUI from Apple. Bill Gates invented the art of stealing intellectual property.
Yavin4
(35,455 posts)He just "sampled" it.
Gates was doing it before IT was even an IT.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)Yavin4
(35,455 posts)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOS
Rex
(65,616 posts)I remember when it was IBM-DOS, Gates bought the license. IBM wanted Gates to make there next big OS, which was a mistake since it did poorly against MS-DOS. I have no idea if that was by design but IBM was not bright and Gates made out like a bandit.
Baitball Blogger
(46,787 posts)saturnsring
(1,832 posts)PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)Of all the outlandish things to say. He is slowly improving many lives. Much more them you and I that's for sure. We don't get million lining up in DC wanting to see us and that is in regular neighborhoods.
PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)The Catholic Church is killing people. Not by pulling a trigger or wielding a weapon, but by imposing Dark Age ideas on a vulnerable population.
This needs to be stated clearly: The Catholic Church is morally responsible for the deaths of millions of Africans. Those that have not died as a result of imposing this theology, the Church would now like to saddle with polio and tetanus.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/freethoughtnow/were-all-africans-stand-against-hivaids-polio-and-the-catholic-church/
It's a shocking thing to say because it's fucking abhorrent that it's happening in this day and age. Outlandish? Nope, it's the truth.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)Like I said he is slowly changing the Catholic Church. Maybe this is next. At this point, I will give him a bit more time.
PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)Glassunion
(10,201 posts)How? I was under the impression he cannot change their law. I could be wrong.
PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)There's no "LAW" involved there.
Glassunion
(10,201 posts)PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)Glassunion
(10,201 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)The idea the Pope can order other Catholics around is wrong.
PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)Cardinals, too. They answer to Pope Awesome.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/11/14/the-tense-standoff-between-catholic-bishops-and-the-kenyan-government-over-tetanus-vaccines/
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)I was under the impression he was the leader of the catholic church and its members bowed down to him
Glassunion
(10,201 posts)However he is not a dictator, and there are laws (which I am completely unfamiliar with) that the pope does have to abide.
That said, I do believe it is correct that the pope could have overruled the cardinals in Kenya as the other posters pointed out.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)Glassunion
(10,201 posts)I recall reading about how he fired or demoted some for money laundering, excessive pomp, denying communion for political reasons, etc...
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)In what part of the world is anyone forced to believe in Catholicism and follow the principles it has?
The church doesn't owe anyone any condoms. If they don't believe in it, they don't. Other people can do it.
saturnsring
(1,832 posts)PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)Tolerating intolerance is not, in fact, tolerance. It is merely the passive-aggressive enabling of intolerance.
Calling the RCC out for their crimes against humanity isn't "H8".
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Thankfully, there is a small contingent of humanity that are somewhere in between "blinded by dogma" and "blinded by hate," are are without a doubt, the most instructive people to talk with and friendliest people to be around.
Hopefully, we can all attempt to aspire to better understanding towards those people who believe in that which we ourselves may find distasteful.... otherwise, we're left with little more than name-calling, branding and repeating the same thing in seventeen different ways.
saturnsring
(1,832 posts)PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)saturnsring
(1,832 posts)looks pretty bad. did the boycott come from the church or from the Kenyon bishops? idk,but telling people not to get vaccinated doesn't make the church look good in that respect.
I seem to recall there was a belief (rumor) that those vaccines had birth control with in them and that was what the worry was about and why the Kenyon bishops were telling people not to get them.
cleanhippie
(19,705 posts)saturnsring
(1,832 posts)btw there are former priests that would disagree with you
here are some - there are more
Josef Wesolowski
Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr.
priest Donald Grecco
Richard McCormick
cleanhippie
(19,705 posts)Yavin4
(35,455 posts)Warpy
(111,480 posts)That something was DOS. He sold enough of that system to hire people to improve it.
He invented nothing. He just profited off other people.
Yavin4
(35,455 posts)PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)saturnsring
(1,832 posts)LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)The Pope may appear to live well, but he doesn't own the wealth that surrounds him. He is only a caretaker, that property is owned by the church
He has no real worldly wealth, only stuff on loan to him while he lives. The Vatican is basically a museum.
There are over 1 billion Catholics, so even a couple bucks from each one would easily fund a micro state with a population of 451 people.
treestar
(82,383 posts)And it's not like a Pope does not have certain work to do. He can't spend his time on vacation. Or on high fashion. Like actual rich people could. They'd be free to do whatever they wanted. The Pope has expectations of what he does.
LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)And asking why he doesn't just sell off art to help the poor is like asking why the French president doesn't sell the Louvre when the government needs money.
upaloopa
(11,417 posts)nichomachus
(12,754 posts)upaloopa
(11,417 posts)nichomachus
(12,754 posts)which will now use it for its new cathedral. It's undergoing renovations and is expected to open next year.
It has an interesting provenance -- having been financed by a bunch of rich, elderly widows, who were kept "medicated" by an associate of Robert Schuller.
I have a friend who was an evangelical minister and who knew Schuller. One interesting piece of dirt is that Schuller tended to staff the cathedral offices with attractive young men. Every once in a while, Schuller's wife would have enough, and there would be a major housecleaning. Only to have the cycle start all over again.
Iggo
(47,603 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)in a guesthouse in Vatican City.
nichomachus
(12,754 posts)They give up worldly goods and focus on grabbing power.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)I have a bridge to sell you. German Lords were politically motivated. The Anglicans were self motivated. Theology played such a small part. Some say Luther wanted to get laid...
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)I do think there was a legitimate backlash against the excesses of the Vatican/indulgences, etc. that helped split the church. Not that the resulting Protestant sects weren't loony and corrupt themselves. Frankly I wish all the Puritans' boats had sunk on their way to the New World. Now we're stuck with the legacy of their religious nuttery.
1939
(1,683 posts)Universal primary education paid for by taxes on the community.
Community assistance and support for widows, paupers, and the feeble.
Direct democracy in the form of town meetings.
LuvNewcastle
(16,869 posts)aren't bothered by the opulence of the Vatican. For one thing, it was mostly built in a time when the church had a great deal of temporal as well as religious authority. It's the repository of the church's history, and so many wonderful art treasures are on display at the Vatican. The bureaucracy of the church is headquartered there, so the place is kept up for them as well. Hell, I would just like to spend some time in the Vatican library!
The Velveteen Ocelot
(116,031 posts)when the church was extremely powerful and was essentially an arm of every European monarchy. Just like the monarchs, the church obtained its wealth from the contributions of the masses as well as from the monarchs (who got their wealth from the masses). By the time of the Reformation the church was fabulously wealthy, and the Reformation didn't do much to change that. The church still has that wealth, and has accumulated more, even though they've stopped selling indulgences.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)nichomachus
(12,754 posts)spend so much money to keep the president living in the splendor of a medieval prince when so many Americans are living on the edge of poverty?
GeorgeGist
(25,327 posts)ChazII
(6,207 posts)after reading the OP.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)The Vatican is still in pretty good shape financially.
FreakinDJ
(17,644 posts)Might be a better question
treestar
(82,383 posts)over the years that builds up. I don't think people are actually spending on that today. Most of it is historical or architectural or art. The Catholic Church is thousands of years old.