Why was my question about the publication of the Vatican's financial statements met with hostile replies?
In the USA, we expect Christian ministries to publish financial statements describing how donations are used (and IRS law requires such disclosure of financial statements). So why was my simple and neutral question about whether the Vatican's financial statements are published online seen as so offensive. Isn't God honored when the many gifts from Christians around the world are totalled and the charitable projects they support described and quantified? Since all giving of such in charity to bless "the least of these' is like giving to Christ himself, isn't disclosure of these "good works" an act of worship? OPTIONAL: I'm not a Roman Catholic but I'm certainly not anti-Catholic or in any way hostile to Catholic projects. I assumed that it was an innocent questions, especially in considering how common financial disclosure by Christians ministries has long been within the USA. By the way, for those who have answered, "Because the Vatican is a nation, not simply a charity." I would simply point out that nations publish a great many financial statements so that their taxpayers know how their taxes are being spent. Plus, although the Vatican is a nation, it is atypical among nations in getting the majority of its revenue by donations from all over the world. And for the person who "answered" by saying that such a question about the Vatican does not belong in the Religion & Spirituality category, I don't understand his/her reasoning. I'm a retired Professor of Religious Studies and articles about the Vatican and its finances have often been published in academic journals of religion, and obviously the quantification of donations from Catholic church members and churches is certainly a religion topic. So that complaint about topicality is both inane and in defiance of the decisions of scholarly journal editors who believe that tithing and donations are a part of religious life for many. And certainly the many kinds of emotional reactions that are provoked by such a neutral question says a lot about religion and how peopole react to religious topics. ------------------------------------------------ It seems that reading comprehension is so often lacking on R&S. My question here was WHY THE HOSTILE REPLIES? Yes, one can easily search for financial statements but the emotions surrounding the subject are my interest.
Religion & Spirituality - 9 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
The emotiognal sdhgradsp between thiose SDA.
2 :
People don't like it when their wrongs are made public.
3 :
don't take offense it's just what "they" do whenever we "question" their doings and why/how could they follow false doctrines and man made and mandated traditions OVER God's Word/Truth and Laws....it's just a "normal" reaction from their programming...God Bless
4 :
even they don't know how much money they have.
5 :
Google Catholic culture.org, they have many years budgets on there, so much for the Private conspiracy SDA person above. All it took was a google :Vatican budget for 2008 Catholic here, it is a reasonable question, here is your answer Cut and Paste style::::: Catholic World News (CWN) Feature Stories Vatican budget shows $11-million deficit (Subscribe to RSS Feed) Vatican, Jul. 7, 2004 (CWNews.com) - The annual budget for the Holy See in 2003 showed a deficit of 9,569,456 euros ($11,853,206)-- about 29 percent smaller than the previous year's shortfall. The separate budget for the Vatican city-state also showed a deficit, of 8, 820,678 euros ($10,925,733). That, too, was an improvement on last year's performance; the deficit was 45 percent smaller. The accounts for 2003 were released by the Vatican press office on July 7. These figures are prepared for an annual meeting of the committee of cardinals who supervise the economic affairs of the Holy See. On Thursday, July 8, Cardinal Sergio Sebastiani, the president of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs, will hold a press conference to present the detailed financial reports. The budget figures show that overall income for 2003 at 203,659,498 euros ($252,262,837) and expenses at 213,228,954 euros ($264,116,044), creating the 9,569,456 -euro deficit for the year. The accounts for 2002 had shown a substantially larger deficit of 13.5 million euros. The bulk of the expenses incurred by the Holy See are described as costs of "the service of the Sovereign Pontiff and care for the universal Church." The figures include the salaries of 2,674 people who work within the Roman Curia, including 755 clerics, 344 religious, and 1,575 laymen. The Vatican also pays pensions to roughly 1,000 retired workers. The budget for the Vatican city-state, which handles the temporal affairs of the Vatican, showed a much smaller deficit in 2003 than in 2002; the shortfall in this year's figures was 8,820,678 euros as against 16,048,508 in 2002. The larger single expense for the city-state was the operating deficit of Vatican Radio. In their discussions of the budget, the cardinals who met on July 6 focused on the expenses of Vatican Radio. According to the official statement released on July 7, they took into account the need for new communications technology, and the "important and advantageous" services that Vatican Radio supplies, "especially for countries where there are limited means of evangelization." The Vatican statement also pointed to a 5.7 percent increase in the receipts from the worldwide "Peter's Pence" collection. That collection, in which Catholics everywhere donate to support the Pope and his charitable efforts, brought in 55,842,854 euros ($69,169,751) in 2003. The Vatican statement remarked that the demands on the Pope's charity have been particularly high in recent years because of "grave difficulties caused by tensions and conflicts" around the world.
6 :
They are published on-line; http://www.nlrcm.org/Newsroom/2008/Holy-See-Financial-Statement.pdf
7 :
The Vatican is not subject to IRS laws, dear.
8 :
Some believe in financial accountability regarding 'nonprofit' organizations in the United States. However, the Vatican is its own Governmental body for the city called The Vatican within the country known as Italy at this time. Therefore, all that would need take place is a simple reassignment of the accounting processes. At any rate, many of the organizations currently share an open disclosure report, locally, with their members because of the issue of rapport and honest disclosure principles of the accounting code(s).
9 :
http://www.dfwcatholic.org/holy-see-financial-statements-for-2007 for more info, just type vatican financial statement in the 'search for question' drop down and voila, you will be swarmed with vatican's FS. And you will not complain and look pathetic with that silly 'hostilie reply'' and embarrass yourself.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
If we just abolished the Vatican, could we use its immense wealth to feed all those starving in the world
If we just abolished the Vatican, could we use its immense wealth to feed all those starving in the world?
The plan would work like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bObItmxAGc&feature=player_embedded
Religion & Spirituality - 13 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
I don't know.
2 :
Um, no. What kind of immense wealth do you think the Vatican has? Its yearly operating budget is roughly equal to that of the diocese of Chicago. Its wealth is largely in the great amount of beautiful artwork it has acquired over the centuries, but you could liquidate any major museum with the same results.
3 :
We have too many people on the planet already...
4 :
Something to think about. The plan is already in place and has been.. What was you contribution to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs6qZd_xP1w
5 :
What makes you think it has immense wealth? It's always asking for money just to keep functioning.
6 :
no they are not wealthy as you assume why would you just pick one group to be responsible to feed the starving in the world. its every body's responsible to feed people not just those we think who are rich.
7 :
No, not really, it wouldn't be enough just using the Vatican's assets. Better to tax the rich big businesses worldwide because they seem to get off more lightly taxwise than ordinary workers; and we all know they have more million-dollar bonuses and perks than we do!
8 :
we could use the money for a better purpose.Shut down the christianity itself
9 :
Keep dreaming. That will never happen.
10 :
The primary role of any government is to protect property from the majority. This is true of any power-bearing organisation. Dissolve the Vatican and an alternative focus of wealth will step in to soak up the profit.
11 :
There has always been enough food in the world to feed the world, it is up to everyone to contribute, not just the Vatican.
12 :
What makes you think the Vatican is some immense wealth gathering organization? Just because in the past it was political, & controlled land... doesn't mean it's the same organization now, or that people consider that past relevant to the Catholic spirituality at all. By 1700's or so it was unable to retain it's land against French invasions & sought finanical & military backing elsewhere, but ultimately didn't hold on. So, it's been non-wealth collecting for a long time. Source: Jewish person who's read books. This one has a good many of these details "The Pope's Against the Jews." Inspite of the title, it's a scholarly work & the author was let into the secure Vatican archives to do unique research for it. Love it TD for a Jew standing up for accuracy about the Church & for not bashing it wantonly.
13 :
Yes, and then it would actually be able to do some good in the world.
The plan would work like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bObItmxAGc&feature=player_embedded
Religion & Spirituality - 13 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
I don't know.
2 :
Um, no. What kind of immense wealth do you think the Vatican has? Its yearly operating budget is roughly equal to that of the diocese of Chicago. Its wealth is largely in the great amount of beautiful artwork it has acquired over the centuries, but you could liquidate any major museum with the same results.
3 :
We have too many people on the planet already...
4 :
Something to think about. The plan is already in place and has been.. What was you contribution to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs6qZd_xP1w
5 :
What makes you think it has immense wealth? It's always asking for money just to keep functioning.
6 :
no they are not wealthy as you assume why would you just pick one group to be responsible to feed the starving in the world. its every body's responsible to feed people not just those we think who are rich.
7 :
No, not really, it wouldn't be enough just using the Vatican's assets. Better to tax the rich big businesses worldwide because they seem to get off more lightly taxwise than ordinary workers; and we all know they have more million-dollar bonuses and perks than we do!
8 :
we could use the money for a better purpose.Shut down the christianity itself
9 :
Keep dreaming. That will never happen.
10 :
The primary role of any government is to protect property from the majority. This is true of any power-bearing organisation. Dissolve the Vatican and an alternative focus of wealth will step in to soak up the profit.
11 :
There has always been enough food in the world to feed the world, it is up to everyone to contribute, not just the Vatican.
12 :
What makes you think the Vatican is some immense wealth gathering organization? Just because in the past it was political, & controlled land... doesn't mean it's the same organization now, or that people consider that past relevant to the Catholic spirituality at all. By 1700's or so it was unable to retain it's land against French invasions & sought finanical & military backing elsewhere, but ultimately didn't hold on. So, it's been non-wealth collecting for a long time. Source: Jewish person who's read books. This one has a good many of these details "The Pope's Against the Jews." Inspite of the title, it's a scholarly work & the author was let into the secure Vatican archives to do unique research for it. Love it TD for a Jew standing up for accuracy about the Church & for not bashing it wantonly.
13 :
Yes, and then it would actually be able to do some good in the world.
Monday, February 7, 2011
How to get manuscript published: from Life in dysfunctional family to life as priest in dysfunctional Vatican
How to get manuscript published: from Life in dysfunctional family to life as priest in dysfunctional Vatican?
Unpublished manuscript in two volumes. Vol I deals w/ life w/ mother who has eight kids by five different husbands. Gives boy, at age nine, to strangers who are alcoholics & abuse him physically/sexually til he is age 15 when he leaves "home" & lives on streets, deals w/ his depression, he knows he is homosexual since earliest of age, attempts suicide, finishes high school. Vol II deals with his young adulthood til he becomes ordained Catholic Priest, works in Vatican, his deep spiritual faith, integrity, true to his vow of celibacy; he is excommnicated for revealing corruption of priests & Vatican at highest levels, laundrying of money by Vatican Bank, failure of Banco Ambrosiano. Vol I is completely finished and in edited form; Vol II is in rough draft form. Author not interested in money but wants to get manuscript published. Can anyone help? please email me: robbi@junewedding.com
Books & Authors - 1 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
some advice here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-publishing or you could try the book How To Publish Yourself by Peter Finch
Unpublished manuscript in two volumes. Vol I deals w/ life w/ mother who has eight kids by five different husbands. Gives boy, at age nine, to strangers who are alcoholics & abuse him physically/sexually til he is age 15 when he leaves "home" & lives on streets, deals w/ his depression, he knows he is homosexual since earliest of age, attempts suicide, finishes high school. Vol II deals with his young adulthood til he becomes ordained Catholic Priest, works in Vatican, his deep spiritual faith, integrity, true to his vow of celibacy; he is excommnicated for revealing corruption of priests & Vatican at highest levels, laundrying of money by Vatican Bank, failure of Banco Ambrosiano. Vol I is completely finished and in edited form; Vol II is in rough draft form. Author not interested in money but wants to get manuscript published. Can anyone help? please email me: robbi@junewedding.com
Books & Authors - 1 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
some advice here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-publishing or you could try the book How To Publish Yourself by Peter Finch
Vatican priest caught in TV sex sting, if the leaders can't follow Catholisism, how do they expect us to
Vatican priest caught in TV sex sting, if the leaders can't follow Catholisism, how do they expect us to?
Not only do you get hundreds of high ranking pervy priests but now we have a 60 year old, high-ranking Vatican priest making advances to a young man and asserting that gay sex was not sinful. Monsignor Tommaso Stenico, 60, is the director of one of the three departments that make up the Congregation for the Clergy, the Vatican “ministry†for the clergy. Mgr Stenico admits inviting a man whom he met on a gay website to his office, across the piazza from Saint Peter’s Basilica, after expressing an attraction to sado-masochism. What he did not know was that the young man was working for a TV investigation on homosexuality among Catholic priests and went to the tryst with a concealed video camera. The footage was shown this month by La 7, the national TV channel. It shows the young man entering the lift to Mgr Stenico’s office and then speaking with the priest in his office. Mgr Stenico asks the man, “Do you like me?†and tells him that he is very good-looking. When the young man expresses fears that having sex would be “a sin in the eyes of the Churchâ€, the priest replies: “I do not feel it would be sinful.†Drawn on the subject of sado-masochistic sex, the monsignor says that these are “inner choices, the psychological basis of a personalityâ€. The young man continues to raise moral and religious objections to actually having sex, until the priest becomes irritated, says that he has no time left and takes him back to the lift. On parting, the Monsignor tells him that he is “really tasty†and that he can telephone him or send him a message. The programme did not identify the priest but his superiors in the Vatican recognised the lift of the Congregation and his office. Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, the Jesuit who is official spokesman for Pope Benedict XVI, said that Mgr Stenico had been suspended from office
Other - Cultures & Groups - 3 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
"Not only do you get hundreds of high ranking pervy priests " Name 25 *high ranking pervy priests*, I am all ears... I am not going to press you and demand a list of at least 201... What he has done is despicable, ugly, and beyond understanding... the coverup, if any is even worse. Do you think Catholics, are perfect ? I have ugly news for you... Have you ever heard of perversion OUTSIDE of Catholic church ? I guess not... Yes, it is beyond any understanding when those given the trust abuse it... I will be the last one to defend them... They are human and imperfect, the position of church, when they shielded them from prosecution is despicable... Now, you are sure child abuse and perversion is the monopoly of RCC ? It has NEVER occured anywhere else ? What EXACTLY is your point ? Are you beyond criticism ? Oh, I think I know...
2 :
Christianity is about JESUS CHRIST and HIS teachings, and a CHRISTIAN priest is not JESUS but is still a person a man. To see priest or Christian pastor sin does not render JESUS at fault but the human christian. Let us not loose track of the HOLY TEACHINGS because they never falter, man does. The enemy will try and use all means to decieve believers even the ellect. I see these things as times and incidents for us to gain, how? To persevere and pray for tempted Christians, buy their sins we become holy.
3 :
You can assume that the rule is - do as we say not as we do. Also, this is only one of many people in the Vatican. With the accusations of a few genuine people who really have been molested and the many other who jumped on the bandwagon, this problem has been made much of in the Catholic Church. It is prevelant in al l walks of life. The Church does not want this scandal. For the majority celebasy is the rule. For a few, they temptation is too much. Those few make a big noise when discovered. One cannot judge the policy or leadership of this, or any other, organization by the actions of a few people. Dispite the action of this one man, the policy remains the same - this is not acceptable. Now look at yourself. Never mind what "Leaders" say or do. It should be up to your own standards to accept or reject a choice of intimate partners. You have standards - outside the teachings of an organization that seeks to dominate your life through fear - that you have learned from parents and your friends. You feel that these are standards you adhere to or not based on what your own individual feelings are. It is a personal choice and the rightness of your choice is how you feel about your choice. In the end it is your lief, you have to live it and you have to face the consequences of your choices. The "Church" is made up of people and they make choices as well. Their choice may not be likely your choice. You have asked a tough question. There will be a lot of controversy about the question and all answers. In the end, each person must decide - in this subject - based on their own personal feelings about it.
Not only do you get hundreds of high ranking pervy priests but now we have a 60 year old, high-ranking Vatican priest making advances to a young man and asserting that gay sex was not sinful. Monsignor Tommaso Stenico, 60, is the director of one of the three departments that make up the Congregation for the Clergy, the Vatican “ministry†for the clergy. Mgr Stenico admits inviting a man whom he met on a gay website to his office, across the piazza from Saint Peter’s Basilica, after expressing an attraction to sado-masochism. What he did not know was that the young man was working for a TV investigation on homosexuality among Catholic priests and went to the tryst with a concealed video camera. The footage was shown this month by La 7, the national TV channel. It shows the young man entering the lift to Mgr Stenico’s office and then speaking with the priest in his office. Mgr Stenico asks the man, “Do you like me?†and tells him that he is very good-looking. When the young man expresses fears that having sex would be “a sin in the eyes of the Churchâ€, the priest replies: “I do not feel it would be sinful.†Drawn on the subject of sado-masochistic sex, the monsignor says that these are “inner choices, the psychological basis of a personalityâ€. The young man continues to raise moral and religious objections to actually having sex, until the priest becomes irritated, says that he has no time left and takes him back to the lift. On parting, the Monsignor tells him that he is “really tasty†and that he can telephone him or send him a message. The programme did not identify the priest but his superiors in the Vatican recognised the lift of the Congregation and his office. Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, the Jesuit who is official spokesman for Pope Benedict XVI, said that Mgr Stenico had been suspended from office
Other - Cultures & Groups - 3 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
"Not only do you get hundreds of high ranking pervy priests " Name 25 *high ranking pervy priests*, I am all ears... I am not going to press you and demand a list of at least 201... What he has done is despicable, ugly, and beyond understanding... the coverup, if any is even worse. Do you think Catholics, are perfect ? I have ugly news for you... Have you ever heard of perversion OUTSIDE of Catholic church ? I guess not... Yes, it is beyond any understanding when those given the trust abuse it... I will be the last one to defend them... They are human and imperfect, the position of church, when they shielded them from prosecution is despicable... Now, you are sure child abuse and perversion is the monopoly of RCC ? It has NEVER occured anywhere else ? What EXACTLY is your point ? Are you beyond criticism ? Oh, I think I know...
2 :
Christianity is about JESUS CHRIST and HIS teachings, and a CHRISTIAN priest is not JESUS but is still a person a man. To see priest or Christian pastor sin does not render JESUS at fault but the human christian. Let us not loose track of the HOLY TEACHINGS because they never falter, man does. The enemy will try and use all means to decieve believers even the ellect. I see these things as times and incidents for us to gain, how? To persevere and pray for tempted Christians, buy their sins we become holy.
3 :
You can assume that the rule is - do as we say not as we do. Also, this is only one of many people in the Vatican. With the accusations of a few genuine people who really have been molested and the many other who jumped on the bandwagon, this problem has been made much of in the Catholic Church. It is prevelant in al l walks of life. The Church does not want this scandal. For the majority celebasy is the rule. For a few, they temptation is too much. Those few make a big noise when discovered. One cannot judge the policy or leadership of this, or any other, organization by the actions of a few people. Dispite the action of this one man, the policy remains the same - this is not acceptable. Now look at yourself. Never mind what "Leaders" say or do. It should be up to your own standards to accept or reject a choice of intimate partners. You have standards - outside the teachings of an organization that seeks to dominate your life through fear - that you have learned from parents and your friends. You feel that these are standards you adhere to or not based on what your own individual feelings are. It is a personal choice and the rightness of your choice is how you feel about your choice. In the end it is your lief, you have to live it and you have to face the consequences of your choices. The "Church" is made up of people and they make choices as well. Their choice may not be likely your choice. You have asked a tough question. There will be a lot of controversy about the question and all answers. In the end, each person must decide - in this subject - based on their own personal feelings about it.
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