Pope

nomad wrote:

Roman Catholic Churches are full on sundays,

So are the bookies', but I can't imagine all this fuss over a "state" visit by Victor Chandler

Oh well I suppose it would be unwise to drop a few pennies in the collecting boxes of the people from Christian Aid outside Tescos today, goodness knows what the money would be spent on.

If the catholic church (or any church for that matter) really wanted to do good, they'd sell all their gold baubles and what-not and use the proceeds for doing actual things to help the poor, needy and helpless of the world.

Alas, they have no desire to do so because ultimately 'the church' is a just another world-wide business, just like Microsoft per se. Although I think Bill Gates probably does more good on a world-wide level than TP.

True enough. The Vatican is bottomlessly rich, and far far from observing the Christian teachings of simplicity and poverty (consider the lilies of the fields). It is also directly involved in editing out the fact that Jesus was a Jew and fuelling the persecution of the Jews, never mind Pius who turned a blind eye to the concentration camps of Hitler. Frankly I've no time for religions of any kind, they seem to create nothing but enmity and dessent and I wish people would just observe the spirit of all the monoaethiest religions and do unto others as they would have them do unto...etc. The world would be a far better place.

If the vatican gave away all it's wealth would that eliminate world poverty. I don't think so. And if it wasn't for the catholic church selling off plenary indulgences to the gullible in the middle ages would we have the great cathedrals of the world like St Peters, Notre Dame, Santiago De Compestela, Westminster Abbey, Salisbury, Canterbury etc;
If the Incas and Egyptians didn't have religion of a kind would we have the pyramids or Machu Picchu to visit. If the Jewish people didn't believe God gave them the land of Israel would we have the conflict in the Middle East.
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing
William Shakespeare

phoney wrote:

If the vatican gave away all it's wealth would that eliminate world poverty. I don't think so.

Never said that. Said that if they sold their gold baubles they could actually do some real good at ground level.

Jackie, I completely agree with your post!

Question regarding churches in England (general), how do they get the money to maintain the buildings and pay the priests salary?
Am just curious as back home they take a certain procentage away from the salary to pay it (funnily the catholic church is the most expensive one...)

Sidi: I think I'm correct in saying that the C of E is funded by (1) income from its investments (it owns a lot of land and buildings, and I assume it also owns some shares and other sorts of investments, although I may be getting the CofE pension fund mixed up with the church itself, and (2) donations from the folk who go to church (which, in some cases, may be voluntary regular donations from peoples salaries, and in other cases will be amounts put in the collection plate each week). Each C of E parish is given a target for raising funds each year, which it is supposed to give to its diocese (churchy word for "region").

Vicars' salaries are paid by the diocese (or possibly thay are paid out of central Cof E funds. However, the local parish church council is also able to allocate additional funds to its vicar to pay for expenses/heating/etc

Please note, if you're going to protest with helium filled condoms, don't release them, as it upsets marine life (see previous posts).

Very interesting article here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-catholics-its-you-this-pope-has-abused-2074029.html