Vatican calling for Boycott of Da Vinci Code

[Jeana (DP)]

Pope censures Mexican priest after abuse probe

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -- The Vatican said Friday it had disciplined the Mexican founder of an influential Catholic religious order who has been accused of sexual abuse, instructing him to retire to a life of "prayer and penitence."

The censure of the Rev. Marcial Maciel, 86-year-old founder of the Legionaries of Christ, is significant because he and his conservative order had found favor under the late Pope John Paul II, making the decision by Pope Benedict XVI even bolder.

The instruction was the new pope's first major decision involving sexual abuse charges since his election last year. Before he was elected, Benedict decried the "filth" in the church.

The sanctions against Maciel made him one of the most prominent persons to be disciplined for alleged sexual abuse and could be devastating for the priestly order and its lay branch, Regnum Christi, which claims tens of thousands of members.

more at:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/05/19/pope.legionaires.reut/index.html

 

[Jeana (DP)]

"In a statement published in connection with a bond prospectus, the Boston archdiocese listed its assets at Six Hundred and Thirty-five Million ($635,891,004), which is 9.9 times its liabilities. This leaves a net worth of Five Hundred and Seventy-one million dollars ($571,704,953). It is not difficult to discover the truly astonishing wealth of the church, once we add the riches of the twenty-eight archdioceses and 122 dioceses of the U.S.A., some of which are even wealthier than that of Boston.

"Some idea of the real estate and other forms of wealth controlled by the Catholic church may be gathered by the remark of a member of the New York Catholic Conference, namely 'that his church probably ranks second only to the United States Government in total annual purchase.' Another statement, made by a nationally syndicated Catholic priest, perhaps is even more telling. 'The Catholic church,' he said, 'must be the biggest corporation in the United States. We have a branch office in every neighborhood. Our assets and real estate holdings must exceed those of Standard Oil, A.T.&T., and U.S. Steel combined. And our roster of dues-paying members must be second only to the tax rolls of the United States Government.'

"The Catholic church, once all her assets have been put together, is the most formidable stockbroker in the world. The Vatican, independently of each successive pope, has been increasingly orientated towards the U.S. The Wall Street Journal said that the Vatican's financial deals in the U.S. alone were so big that very often it sold or bought gold in lots of a million or more dollars at one time.

"The Vatican's treasure of solid gold has been estimated by the United Nations World Magazine to amount to several billion dollars. A large bulk of this is stored in gold ingots with the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, while banks in England and Switzerland hold the rest. But this is just a small portion of the wealth of the Vatican, which in the U.S. alone, is greater than that of the five wealthiest giant corporations of the country. When to that is added all the real estate, property, stocks and shares abroad, then the staggering accumulation of the wealth of the Catholic church becomes so formidable as to defy any rational assessment.


MORE AT:

http://www.chick.com/reading/books/153/153_10.asp

 

[narlacat]

<<If we were big business, we would make a lot more money, lol! The Vatican is often in the red due to money donated to humanitarian issues, etc. They don't even teach us that tithing is literally 10% (I disagree) or that it has to even be money, it can be time, alms, etc. Otherwise we'd probably give a LOT more than we do in the offering plate. But they don't really push us for money like people think they do. (There are some individual exceptions, unfortunately, as with everything. I mean on the whole.)>>


This is blatant misinformation.
I actually can't believe you said that DK, everything you said is soooo untrue.

 

[narlacat]

As a very strongly active member of the Catholic church, and not just someone slinging mud from the sidelines because I "think" I have a clue what the Catholic church is all about...




Hi Sandra
I have not meant to insult you, I have always found you to be very nice on these boards.
I may appear like I am slinging mud from the side lines.....
I admit the Church does some good things....but all in all I am anti organized religion for lots of different reasons.
I know people who have been 'mucked around' with by Catcholic priests, guys....it does something to guys when they are mucked around with as kids....
And the worse part was, the parents knew but because they were so heavily into Catholicism chose to ignore it.

Maybe I am wrong about the statistics but I don't think so.....I'm thinking the Catholic religion is one of the few whereby the priests are not allowed to marry and are required to abstain from sex.
Not having sex is NOT normal and I'm sorry but I do think the doctrine of celibacy has something to do with why so many Catholic priests are little boy molesters.....

 

[Dark Knight]

<<If we were big business, we would make a lot more money, lol! The Vatican is often in the red due to money donated to humanitarian issues, etc. They don't even teach us that tithing is literally 10% (I disagree) or that it has to even be money, it can be time, alms, etc. Otherwise we'd probably give a LOT more than we do in the offering plate. But they don't really push us for money like people think they do. (There are some individual exceptions, unfortunately, as with everything. I mean on the whole.)>>


This is blatant misinformation.
I actually can't believe you said that DK, everything you said is soooo untrue.

I spoke the truth and don't appreciate being called a liar. Sorry things seem different Down Under.

 

[windovervocalcords]

Whoa, patience opportunity...

 

[Dark Knight]

but all in all I am anti organized religion for lots of different reasons

That's no surprise. That seems endemic in Australia.

but I do think the doctrine of celibacy has something to do with why so many Catholic priests are little boy molesters.....

I guess you know more than experts on the subject who I have heard say time and again that there is no link between celibacy (or homosexuality or any of the other things people have blamed) and pedophilia. They don't want to have sex with women (or grown men) they want to touch little boys. There is no correlation between the two! How many pedophiles are NOT celibate? :doh:

 

[Dark Knight]

Whoa, patience opportunity...

Patience and opportunity???? :crazy:

 

[narlacat]

The average American knows very little about Australia besides the fact that we have kangaroos and I love how it is always brought up to deter my opinion.
Narlacat doesn't know what she talks about because she is from Australia.
Open your mind DK....and your eyes there's a whole world out there baby

 

[Dark Knight]

The average American knows very little about Australia besides the fact that we have kangaroos and I love how it is always brought up to deter my opinion.
Narlacat doesn't know what she talks about because she is from Australia.
Open your mind DK....and your eyes there's a whole world out there baby

Nuh uh, I also know you have the Crocodile Hunter!!!! :crazy:

And it is possible that the church is run in a different way on a local level in Aussieland than in America. I was simply taking that into consideration "baby." :innocent:

 

[narlacat]

I forgot that you guys get alot of Steve over there.
Just know the average person here is not anything like Steve!
I am so not into wrestling crocs

If we keep calling each other baby people will start to talk
Yes, maybe things are done differently in different countries.

 

[narlacat]

<<all in all I am anti organized religion for lots of different reasons>>

<<That's no surprise. That seems endemic in Australia>>.

Well, don't tell my Mum that DK
How so??

 

[windovervocalcords]

Patience and opportunity???? :crazy:

The reward of patience, (the practice of patience) IS patience. Or so I hear...lol

Not my own personal experience mind you.

 

[narlacat]

<<There is no correlation between the two! How many pedophiles are NOT celibate?>>

I think asking males to abstain from sex is asking a bit much and I think you are bound to get problems when such ridiculous restrictions are in place.
The Church is a place of sanctuary for some gay priests in that there is no pressure on them to be married or engage in sex with females.
You can be gay and also be a pedophile, like someone pointed out the other day, you have to look no further than Michael Jackson for proof of that.
How many gay Catholic priests have you met?
The majority I have met have been as camp as a row of tents (not that there's anything wrong with that ...in normal circumstances)
It's almost like it's a pre requisite.
Which is funny because in their teachings Catholics have no time for gays, homosexuality is considered unatural and immoral.

 

[Dark Knight]

<<There is no correlation between the two! How many pedophiles are NOT celibate?>>

I think asking males to abstain from sex is asking a bit much and I think you are bound to get problems when such ridiculous restrictions are in place.
The Church is a place of sanctuary for some gay priests in that there is no pressure on them to be married or engage in sex with females.
You can be gay and also be a pedophile, like someone pointed out the other day, you have to look no further than Michael Jackson for proof of that.
How many gay Catholic priests have you met?
The majority I have met have been as camp as a row of tents (not that there's anything wrong with that ...in normal circumstances)
It's almost like it's a pre requisite.
Which is funny because in their teachings Catholics have no time for gays, homosexuality is considered unatural and immoral.

I don't believe in pre-marital sex, which means I have been celibate for 34 years and I have absolutely no desire to have sex with little boys (or BIG boys, for that matter) because I am not a pedophile. It's completely irrelevent to the problem.

 

[narlacat]

Omg are you saying you are a 34 yr old virgin??
That's almost unbelievable, thoughI do know a guy who is older than you and is...so it's not out of the realm of possibility I don't suppose!

I have been celibate for 9 months and it's killing me....

 

[Dark Knight]

For those who want to know about the real Opus Dei:

http://www.opusdei.us/

They talk about things in the movie on there, as well, and answer lots of questions.

 

[Details]

I just read that one meaning of the term "blasphemy", is "talking trash about God." In that case, Da Vinci Code would fit IMO as blasphemous.

It is fiction, after all.

Opus Dei is not God. Nor is the church.

While fiction, the concept of these conspiracy movies is that the church is the one being blasphemous, telling lies about God and what God wanted the church to be. Something of the opposite of blasphemy is trying to understand what God really said, really did - the truth is not ever blasphemy.

They may well be wrong, but an honest attempt to understand the truth is always a good thing.

 

[Dark Knight]

Friday night, The DVC opened with $29,500,000 in ticket sales. So I'd guess it will end the weekend with $50-70 million, about where critics expected it to be. Unless tonight goes through the roof.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/

 

[Dark Knight]

Opus Dei is not God. Nor is the church.

While fiction, the concept of these conspiracy movies is that the church is the one being blasphemous, telling lies about God and what God wanted the church to be. Something of the opposite of blasphemy is trying to understand what God really said, really did - the truth is not ever blasphemy.

They may well be wrong, but an honest attempt to understand the truth is always a good thing.

In the Acts of the Apostles, as Christ is establishing His church with the Apostles as the first leaders, He says to them, "Whatsoever you bind on either, will be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." The Church has that much influence with God, per Christ's command. It cannot, and doesn't, replace Him, of course, as the One worthy of our love and worship. It all begins and ends with Him. But He gave the church tremendous influence.