Vatican - What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ

Occupy Vatican?

JEL — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:17:35 +0000

Heck no! Turns out the Pope and the Vatican are saying the same things as the OWS protesters. In fact, they’ve written a position paper urging a global authority to police financial markets:

If Vatican cardinals have yet to join the Occupy Wall Street protesters, a document released by the Holy See calling for a “world authority” to crack down on capitalism suggests some are considering it. Written by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and released on Monday, Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority, suggests a beefed-up United Nations could police the financial markets and inject a dose of ethics to replace rampant profiteering and reduce inequality.

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Slow News Day at the Vatican

JEL — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:31:55 +0000

When I first came across this story, I thought it might be a hoax so I did some more research and found other coverage here and here. I guess the only logical conclusion is that there was literally nothing else to write about over the weekend in the Vatican’s newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano. Or maybe the Pope was away on vacation?

Regardless, The Vatican claimed Homer Simpson as one of their own. This is what they had to say:

“Few people know it, and he does everything he can to hide it, but it is true: Homer J. Simpson is a Catholic…[The Simpsons is] among the few TV programs for children in which the Christian faith, religion, and the question of God are recurring themes.”

Yes, they certainly are recurring themes on the show. Maybe they should have consulted Ned Flanders first? Here’s one of Homer’s quotes from the show:

“Lisa, if the Bible has taught us nothing else – and it hasn’t – it’s that girls should stick to girl’s sports, such as hot oil wrestling and foxy boxing and such and such.”

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“Grave Crimes”

JEL — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:15:51 +0000

In light of the numerous child sex abuse cases around the world, an increasing number of voices have been calling for the Catholic Church to change its stance on both the ordination of women and also on the celibacy vow for priests.

Last week the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sent a letter to bishops worldwide setting forth new rules that will become a permanent part of church legislation. The letter states that the attempted ordination of women represents a “grave crime” subject to the same set of procedures and punishments which are delivered for sex abuse.

“At a briefing Thursday, Monsignor Charles Scicluna defended the inclusion of both sex abuse and ordination of women in the same document as a way of codifying two of the most serious canonical crimes against sacraments and morals that the congregation deals with.”

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The Vatican as Rock Critic

JEL — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:48:38 +0000

The Vatican’s official newspaper, L’ Osservatore Romano, recently published it’s “semiserious guide” to the top 10 rock albums of all time. The Beatles’ “Revolver,” Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” and Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” are all safe picks. Others are more interesting/curious. Oasis’ “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” made the list, as did one of my all-time faves, Donald Fagen’s fairly obscure “The Nightfly.” The two biggest head-scratchers for me are David Crosby’s “If I Could Only Remember My Name” and Santana’s “Supernatural.”

You’ll notice no Bob Dylan or Rolling Stones among the Vatican’s picks. In the latter’s case, “Sympathy for the Devil” probably did them in.

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Walking the walk

PJM — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:23:20 +0000

Yesterday the Vatican celebrated “World Communications Day.” I have to admit that I hadn’t marked it on my calendar, but I came across this article about the speech given by Pope Benedict XVI. (The speech can be found here.) Essentially, the Pope asked Catholic priests to embrace new digital technologies to reach out to a wider audience. I particularly liked this quote:

A pastoral presence in the world of digital communications, precisely because it brings us into contact with the followers of other religions, non-believers and people of every culture, requires sensitivity to those who do not believe, the disheartened and those who have a deep, unarticulated desire for enduring truth and the absolute.

The article mentions that the Pope is no slouch in maintaining on online presence. Check out the Pope2You website. The Vatican has a YouTube page, a Facebook profile, and even an iPod app.

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