Blair's priest: knighthoods for cash

Tony Blair's priest fixed papal knighthoods for cash: Senior Catholic took up to £50k donations for honours

Amplify’d from www.dailymail.co.uk

Tony Blair's priest fixed papal knighthoods for cash: Senior Catholic took up to £50k donations for honours

By Ian Gallagher

Senior Catholic Fr Michael Seed admits soliciting charity donations of up to £50,000 for prestigious honours

Franciscan Friars ‘appalled’ by MoS disclosures... as Seed admits his actions could be ‘morally wrong’

Suspended: Father Michael Seed's superiors are said to be 'appalled'

One of Britain’s most high-profile Catholic priests has admitted arranging papal knighthoods for wealthy businessmen for money.

Father Michael Seed, who regularly celebrated Mass for Tony Blair and his family in Downing Street, now faces questions from his religious order after an investigation by The Mail on Sunday.

The most damaging evidence concerns his attempted cultivation of an Israeli arms dealer, Hezi Bezalel, who was seeking business opportunities in the Balkans.

It shows that Fr Seed, a former ecumenical adviser to the Archbishop of Westminster, had ‘agreed’ a papal knighthood for Mr Bezalel before approaching him. In return for a £45,000 donation to charity, Fr Seed said he could also introduce Mr Bezalel to influential Balkan politicians ‘and the man who looks after all arms for the region’. Mr Bezalel declined the offer, saying he did not give to charity ‘under instruction’.

Papal knighthoods are awarded to lay men and women for conspicuous service to the church and society. They are among the highest honours the Pope can bestow.

Tonight a source close to Fr Seed’s order, the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, said his superiors were ‘appalled’. Although he failed to solicit funds from Mr Bezalel, at least four wealthy Britons were impressed by his overtures. Fr Seed admitted they made donations to an Archbishop friend’s charity in Serbia to become papal knights.

It was unclear last night if the four, who are each understood to have contributed between £25,000 and £50,000, had done anything else to merit their honour.

Our inquiries also reveal that:

Fr Seed gave a £34,000 cheque drawn from his order’s charity bank account to a friend, Chinese businesswoman Xuelin Black, who later paid the money into his personal account. Last night the order said it was auditing accounts over the disclosure. Ms Black, 47, who was made a papal dame by Pope Benedict XVI, is a Tory donor and adviser to the Government’s Big Society project.

Fr Seed is on indefinite leave from his order after claims that he marked the 25th anniversary of his ordination in January with a champagne party at a racy club, with entertainment provided by men dressed as nuns.

He lives rent-free in a flat owned by one of his wealthy papal knights in exclusive Dolphin Square in Pimlico, Central London.

Fr Seed, who has taken a vow of poverty, denied profiting from any of the deals. But he agreed that trying to solicit funds from Mr Bezalel could be seen as ‘morally wrong’.

Asked if he thought many would see the deal as an abuse of the papal honours system, he said: ‘Of course I do.’

Fr Seed is honorary chaplain to the International Committee on Human Dignity, based at the European Parliament in Brussels. But it was as unofficial Catholic envoy to Parliament that he acquired many well-connected friends. He was praised by Cherie Blair for turning ‘the great into the good’ and helped to convert Tony Blair, Ann Widdecombe, John Gummer and the Duchess of Kent.

Admission: Father Seed is facing questions from his religious order

When he approached Mr Bezalel in November 2008, he had recently left his post as ecumenical adviser to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, then Catholic Primate of England and Wales.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Fr Seed and his go-between, American corporate strategist Kalman Sporn, 39, constructed a careful plan to try to win over Mr Bezalel.

Central to their strategy was Archbishop Eugenio Sbarbaro, the Vatican’s ambassador to Serbia, who had the power to nominate people for papal knighthoods. He has been a close friend of Fr Seed for nearly 30 years and Fr Seed was soliciting funds for the Archbishop’s Belgrade charity, The Path to Peace in the Balkans Foundation.

In an email to Mr Sporn dated November 17, 2008, Fr Seed wrote: ‘Spoke to Eugenio – Hezi can meet President [of Montenegro, Filip Vujanovic] any time he wishes – Eugenio will call him.

‘Eugenio will also introduce Hezi to the man who looks after all arms for the region of Serbia, Montenegro and the Balkans in general – he is a friend of Eugenio – my side of deal is done – Eugenio will entertain Hezi in Belgrade. We must act quickly as Eugenio might be going on vacation in a week or so to his family in Italy, near Genoa, till early December. Papal knighthood is also agreed.’ The following day Fr Seed sent an email to Mr Bezalel couched in more formal language.

In it, he said he understood from Mr Sporn that ‘you are seeking a meeting with the President of Montenegro and I am only too happy to facilitate that for you whenever you wish’.

Fr Seed added: ‘I have spoken with the Archbishop and he is only too happy to assist you in any way you wish. I have told him of your particular interests and he is again familiar with the specific people (at the highest level) you wish to meet. As he has been in the region for nine years he is very well known and trusted by all.’

Although he made no mention of a papal knighthood at this point, Fr Seed raised the matter in an email to Mr Sporn later that day. He included advice on how to court their target.

He told Mr Sporn: ‘We must wait and see now – my email says it all – no mention of Papal Knighthood though – you can do that.’ He advised Mr Sporn to stress how ‘good’ the honour has been for two British philanthropists. One was made a Knight of the Pontifical Order of Pope Saint Sylvester in 2004. Archbishop Sbarbaro gave him the award for his support for ‘inter-faith initiatives’ in the Balkans.

'Turning the great into the good': Father Seed converts Ann Widdecombe to Catholicism

In the 2008 email to Mr Sporn, Fr Seed said of the papal knighthood nomination process: ‘We have time – he can submit even as late as April 09 if necessary. [Archbishop Sbarbaro retired in late 2009.] He [the Archbishop] is submitting names next in January.

‘Hezi could be on that list and be invested in February, perhaps at the Ritz hotel, London. I can get the grand rooms free of charge – or wherever he wishes. Eugenio would come over for it.’

Mr Bezalel was unmoved by Fr Seed’s offer, though he told him on November 21 that his representative in the Balkans ‘will approach you should we need’. Undeterred, Mr Sporn told Mr Bezalel next day: ‘I don’t think you understand the context and nature of Father Seed’s recommendation; so I will spell it out for you. If you Hezi Bezalel make a sizeable contribution to the charitable efforts of His Excellency Eugenio Sbarbaro in Belgrade; then on a diplomatic level you will be introduced to certain heads of state in both Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia. A sizeable contribution is more than $75,000 [£47,000]. The Vatican can open certain doors for you ...’

Mr Sporn tried again soon after. Accusing Mr Bezalel of being ‘short-sighted’, he told him: ‘Within days you could be sitting with the Presidents of Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro selling them technologies they want and need. To achieve direct access... surely 75,000 is a small fee.’

Later that day, Mr Bezalel replied by email: ‘I don’t like this approach. When I give to charity it’s because I want and not under instruction. I’m trying to be as polite as possible. So please let’s forget about it.’

Friend: Archbishop Sbarbaro made nominations for papal knighthoods

Fr Seed was a student at the Catholic University of America when he met Archbishop Sbarbaro in Washington in the early Eighties. The Archbishop was charge d’affaires at the Vatican embassy.

This January, the Archbishop flew to London to conduct a Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, in Mayfair, marking Fr Seed’s 25 years as a priest. At a party afterwards at the Pigalle Club in Piccadilly, known for its racy floor shows, many were taken aback when men appeared on stage wearing nuns’ habits.

Party guests ranged from Westminster diocese clerics to millionaire benefactors who had flown in by private jet.

His order exclaustrated Fr Seed, meaning he is suspended indefinitely but is bound by his religious vows.

Last night Fr Seed said he was introduced to Mr Bezalel by Mr Sporn, a New Yorker who keeps a blown-up photo in his apartment of himself with Tony Blair.

Admitting the emails were ‘extremely damaging’, Fr Seed said: ‘I regret the language used. It was because I was dealing with Kalman Sporn, who is very blunt. I had to use language that he understood.’ When it was put that he was effectively trying to facilitate a potential arms deal, he replied: ‘I can’t deny that ... it’s terrible.’

But he said all the funds he solicited helped charity in the Balkans. He said donations went to Archbishop Sbarbaro, who then distributed them as he saw fit. ‘At the heart of this is goodness,’ he said.

Asked if he thought donors he recruited were motivated more by a papal knighthood then helping good causes, he laughed: ‘I can’t answer that.’ He admitted he is living in a London flat owned by Gregory King, a Glaswegian corporate money lender whose fortune is estimated at £200 million. Fr Seed claimed that Mr King, who could not be contacted last night, received a papal knighthood after donating to Archbishop Sbarbaro’s charity.

Archbishop Sbarbaro said yesterday: ‘Fr Seed is a very good man. When I was ambassador I met a lot of people and I awarded papal knighthoods but this was a secondary part of my work.’

He could not remember discussing Mr Bezalel with Fr Seed but said: ‘The Church rewards people who are charitable. I still work for the foundation and we are completing two works in Serbia which came about through kind donations.’

Mr Bezalel did not respond to calls last week. He has many other business interests.

The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, based in New York, stressed they were unaware of Fr Seed’s ‘involvement with soliciting funds for any charitable organisation’. They were ‘most definitely not aware of any promises or implied promises of a papal knighthood’.

High-profile: Father Michael Seed regularly celebrated Mass for Tony Blair and his family in Downing Street

Mr Sporn said the emails referred to helping Mr Bezalel with introductions to politicians who could faciliate Balkans technology deals.

He said: ‘Hezi was involved in the arms trade but for five years he has been a distributor for security technology for software companies.

‘Sometimes when you are raising money for charity, the language may sound heavy-handed but the overall result is beautiful. Fr Seed and I were raising money for Path to Peace, which brings Jews, Muslims and Christians together in the former Yugoslavia. Hezi already had business interests there and the approach was that he should use them to support this charity.’

He said he and Fr Seed would not have been remunerated if Mr Bezalel had agreed to their proposal.

Riddle over the £34,000 he gave to Tory donor

Questions: Father Seed with Tory donor Xuelin Black

A Chinese businesswoman is at the centre of a mystery over why Fr Seed gave her £34,000 from his order’s charity bank account.

Xuelin Black, 47, has lived in London since the late Nineties ‘developing business and political interests’.

In the run-up to last year’s Election she donated £50,000 to the Tories and was later invited to their summer ball. She now advises Mr Cameron’s Big Society ‘Tsar’ Lord Wei.

Last night the Franciscan order was investigating why Fr Seed gave her the £34,000 cheque drawn from its charity account. She held on to it for two months before paying it into Fr Seed’s personal account.

Fr Seed described it as a ‘loan’ when questioned by The Mail on Sunday but declined to elaborate.

Miss Black, who runs an import business was made a papal dame by Pope Benedict XVI. She insisted yesterday that Fr Seed had inherited money following an elderly relative’s death.

‘He didn’t have a bank account so I held on to it for a couple of months while he opened one,’ she said. She added that she was introduced to Archbishop Eugenio Sbarbaro by Fr Seed at a party ‘years ago’.

She said: ‘He [the Archbishop] told me about his good work and asked if I could help. I made a donation a few years later. I didn’t expect to be made a papal dame. I do loads of work for charity.’ She said the Archbishop flew to London to present her with the honour at the Ritz hotel. Fr Seed was also there.

Elite band of 400 Britons

Prized: The papal knighthood medal for which four Britons allegedly donated up to £50,000 to a charity n the Balkans

Britain now has 400 papal knights – an award that Popes have been making since the early Middle Ages.

Originally they were conferred to the nobility.

But today the Papal Orders of Chivalry are a means for the Holy See to distinguish all those who have served the Church well.

British papal knights are traditionally members of the Pontifical Orders of Saint Gregory the Great and Pope Saint Sylvester.

Most are Catholics but some come from other faiths.

Knights and dames wear their badges suspended from a ribbon on their left breasts at ceremonies.

They are entitled to wear a uniform of their order. Dames wear capes.

The uniform of St Gregory is dark green, with silver buttons and braiding; that of St Sylvester is black, with gold buttons and braiding.

The uniform is accompanied by a cocked hat and dress sword.

Those honoured do not have specific obligations.

But it is customary to take part in major diocese events like consecrating bishops and ordinating priests. Read more at www.dailymail.co.uk

 

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Secularism takes blow, Vatican flexes

Secularism in Europe takes a blow as Vatican flexes its political muscle

Amplify’d from www.secularism.org.uk

Secularism in Europe takes a blow as Vatican flexes its political muscle

The ruling from the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights that the display of crucifixes in state school classrooms does not violate a student’s freedom of conscience is a severe blow to the concept of secularism in Europe. It also leaves an uncomfortable suspicion over the motives and independence of the European Court.

The judgment is an undoubted blow to secularism and a reminder of Vatican power. It will do little or nothing, however, to help the Vatican realise its stated goal: the re-evangelisation of Europe for the Catholic Church"

- Terry Sanderson, NSS President

This is not just sour grapes from those on the losing end. We must ask why the original decision — which was reached unanimously — has now been completely reversed by the upper chamber of the same court. How could the first court have got it so wrong?

Friday’s reversal has implications in all 47 member states of the Council of Europe, opening the way for Europeans who want religious symbols in classrooms to petition their governments to allow them. It is not immediately clear how the ruling would affect France, a traditionally Catholic country with a strictly secular state that does not allow crucifixes or other religious symbols in public schools, including the Muslim headscarf.

The court’s Grand Chamber said Italy has done nothing wrong and it found no evidence that the display of such a symbol on classroom walls “might have an influence on pupils.” This is the polar opposite of what the previous court said. But that does not mean that religion now has carte blanche to impose itself in schools. In its judgment the Court specifically distinguished between the (in their words) “passive presence” of symbols such as crucifixes and activities such as school prayer which the Court said represents a much more significant violation of Convention:

“a crucifix on a wall is an essentially passive symbol and this point is of importance in the Court’s view, particularly having regard to the principle of neutrality ... It cannot be deemed to have an influence on pupils comparable to that of didactic speech or participation in religious activities”

The Italian Government had argued that the crucifix is not a religious symbol at all, but a symbol of tradition and culture. The court did not accept this “reasoning”.

Massimo Albertin, Mrs Lautsi’s husband, said that the family was disappointed and “disillusioned” by the ruling, saying it showed that the court didn’t respect the secular principles on which Italian society is built. “Freedom of religion, freedom from discrimination, freedom of choice are fundamental principles and in this case they weren’t respected,” Albertin said. A self-described atheist, Mr Albertin said he didn’t think the family had any further recourse, saying the ruling showed “the Vatican is too strong for individuals.”

So what happened in the months between the unanimous finding last year and the utter turnaround this year by another chamber of the same court?

The final reasoning in the Grand Chamber judgment is indeed strange, not to say strained. Some commentators have asked whether the long delay between the two judgments was caused by the judges struggling to come up with some reasoning that would not sound too bizarre as to why they had completely changed their minds.

And we will never know what kind of pressure went on behind the scenes, except that we do know the Vatican went into overdrive to ensure that the original decision was overturned, calling in its reactionary friends to support it.

Nor should we forget also that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has problems of its own with growing opposition to its judgments throughout Europe. There is much pressure in this country, for instance, for the Government to entirely withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and establish its own Bill of Rights. When the ECHR ruled, for example, that prisoners should have the right to vote, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, said it made him feel physically sick.

The Grand Chamber must also have been aware that Italy had signalled that it had no intention of obeying the ban on crucifixes, anyway. Italy would have paid the fine and then totally ignored the ruling, as it has done in other cases. That would have further undermined the court’s authority, effectively rendering its judgments meaningless.

The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) – (a branch of US televangelist Pat Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice), was elated. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) also hailed the ruling. (Both groups had filed briefs urging the court to uphold the crucifixes.)

The ECLJ’s Director, Grégor Puppinck, said:

“This strong political movement counteracts the attempts of radical secularists to use human rights against Christianity. “These radical secularists, by rejecting Christianity, utilize the culture of human rights to de-Christianize Europe in the name of respect and tolerance of non-Christians. Behind a discourse of tolerance, religious pluralism serves as a pretext to marginalize Christianity and could eventually impose on the European civilization exclusive secularism. The objective of this radical secularism is to introduce secularization of society in order to promote a certain cultural model in which the absence of value (neutrality) and relativism (pluralism) are values in themselves supporting a political project that is supposed to be both “post-religious” and “post-identity”; in one word “postmodern.” This political project has a claim to a monopoly as a philosophical system.”

But this is not an opinion shared by all evangelical Protestants. Many of them recognise that the crucifix (as opposed to the cross) is a specifically Catholic symbol and this verdict upholds the special place that Catholicism has in Italian affairs.

The Italian Federation of Evangelical Churches called the ruling “a decision that does not fully realize a secular state” and “baggage from a society dominated by Catholic culture”.

They added: “Crucifixes will continue to be present in schoolrooms and courtrooms, but for the minorities who won religious and civil rights 150 years ago, such as the evangelical churches, these crosses do not convey a common sense of belonging.”

Of course they don’t, which is why the Vatican is cock-a-hoop over the decision.

Some non-Catholics — Christians of other denominations, atheists and those of other religions — have already recognised that this decision makes them into second-class citizens. And it is at this point, when it is too late, that they suddenly recognise the value of secularism.

The judgment is an undoubted blow to secularism and a reminder of Vatican power. It will do little or nothing, however, to help the Vatican realise its stated goal: the re-evangelisation of Europe for the Catholic Church. Mass attendance remains in freefall, even in Italy.

See also: Vatican tells UN that persecuting gay people is a “human right” Read more at www.secularism.org.uk

 

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Kennedy understood church and state

Kennedy understood church and state separation

Amplify’d from www2.oanow.com

Evans: Kennedy understood church and state separation

By Jim Evans | Special to the News

In September of 1960, John F. Kennedy was running for president of the United States. Opposition forces had decided to make his Catholic faith an issue. Our country had never had a Catholic president before. The contrived controversy questioned whether Kennedy would follow the Constitution or the Vatican.

What his opponents didn’t understand about Kennedy was his keen understanding of the Constitution. While his faith was important to him, and to his family, his commitment to the principles of a secular government was equally important. Kennedy had a firm grasp of Jeffersonian and Madisonian concepts of the separation of church and state.

Speaking to a group of Protestant ministers in Houston, Texas, Kennedy said, with some degree of eloquence, “I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute; where no Catholic prelate would tell the president — should he be Catholic — how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference, and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him, or the people who might elect him.”

I bring this up because another Catholic politician who is likely to seek the White House in 2012 is saying he is appalled at Kennedy’s position on the separation of church and state.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum said in Massachusetts last week that Kennedy’s stance on church and state was “radical” and had done “great damage.”

According to CBS News, Santorum is reported to have said, “We’re seeing how Catholic politicians, following the first Catholic president, have followed his lead, and have divorced faith not just from the public square, but from their own decision-making process.”

The erosion of the principles of separation of church and state is a serious matter. Kennedy had it right when he said, “I would not look with favor upon a president working to subvert the First Amendment’s guarantees of religious liberty; nor would our system of checks and balances permit him to do so.”

But apparently those checks and balances are not important to Santorum and some others.

I’m just curious, and maybe some enlightened political luminary can shed some light on this — what is America’s official religion?

Obviously Christians dominate simply by sheer numbers. But which brand? Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Nazarenes, Pentecostals — whose version of the Christian faith is the official American religion?

And let’s not overlook Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and that significant 15 percent of unbelievers — all of whom are legitimately American citizens.

Now don’t get me wrong, faith is important to me. I’m a Baptist, and we Baptists take our faith with great seriousness.

But here’s the rub. You get three Baptists in a room, and you’ve got five opinions. Who is going to speak politically for all Baptists — or for any other faith, for that matter?

This is where Jefferson and Madison served us well. By separating the work of the church from the work of the state, they made it possible for America to be a thriving cauldron of religious freedom, boiling and cooking in a wonderful variety. Religion thrives in this kind of environment — and has for nearly 250 years.

Kennedy understood this very well. Santorum doesn’t.

James L. Evans is pastor of Auburn First Baptist Church. He can be reached at faithmatters@mindspring.com. Read more at www2.oanow.com

 

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Vatican seek common ground with atheists

Amplify’d from life.nationalpost.com

Vatican talks seek ‘common ground’ with atheists

Reuters

By Tom Heneghan

PARIS – The Vatican launched a series of public dialogues with non-believers on Thursday, choosing leading intellectual institutions in Paris to present its belief that modern societies must speak more openly about God.

The decision to start the series in France, where strong secularism has pushed faith to the fringes of the public sphere, reflected Pope Benedict’s goal of bringing religious questions back into the mainstream of civic debates.

The dialogues, called “Courtyard of the Gentiles” after the part of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem where Jews and non-Jews met, will continue in at least 16 cities in Europe and North America over the next two years.

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the Vatican’s culture minister, told participants at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) the dialogue was meant not to confront believers and atheists but to seek common ground.

Rather it was “an invitation to non-believers … to start a voyage with believers through the desert,” he said.

The meeting was due to continue on Friday with sessions at the Sorbonne university and the Institut de France, home of the prestigious Academie Francaise.

Pope Benedict, who recently launched another Vatican drive to revitalize the faith in traditionally Catholic countries, proposed these meetings with non-believers in 2009.

“We must be concerned that human beings do not set aside the question of God, but rather see it as an essential question for their lives,” he said in a speech to the Vatican hierarchy.

“We must make sure that they are open to this question and to the yearning concealed within it.” Addressing the UNESCO meeting, former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato said a so-called honour killing in his country, in which a Pakistani murdered his daughter for behaving as freely as Italian youths, presented a challenge to open democracies that believers and atheists had to think about.

“Democratic societies are founded on the hypothesis that everyone can differentiate between just and unjust, good and evil, and everyone can find the limits” he said. “If one is no longer conscious of this, then democracy doesn’t work anymore.”

Although he said Christianity offered a moral compass, Amato did not present it as the only way to counter the problems challenging affluent liberal societies.

Even Ravasi, despite his Roman collar, did not present his views as a sermon for more Catholicism. Instead of the Gospels, he quoted secular thinkers such as the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and the Argentinian novelist Jorge Luis Borges.

The discussions are due to end on Friday evening with a youth rally outside Notre Dame Cathedral highlighted by a video address by the pope from Rome.

Further dialogue meetings are planned in Italy, Albania, Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Spain, Russia and the United States.

Charles Lewis: Stereotyping religion is the result of a narrow mind

Are some atheists more ‘religious’ than they realize? Read more at life.nationalpost.com

 

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Revolution at the Vatican Bank

The Holy See is bringing back prison as a canon law penalty as part of its reform of the operations of the Vatican Bank.

Amplify’d from www.ucanews.com

Revolution at the Vatican Bank

The Holy See is bringing back prison as a canon law penalty as part of its reform of the operations of the Vatican Bank.

Starting at the beginning of April, the Holy See will return to using a penalty that had disappeared some time ago in canon law: prison.

This punishment is being reintroduced by law no. 127 of the state of Vatican City promulgated last December 30, which will go into effect next April 1. A law that sanctions money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

But beyond this, the new norm will bring much more substantial novelties in the practices of the Vatican institutes that operate in the financial field, beginning with the one that most resembles a bank, the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR).

Until now, the IOR has enjoyed broad autonomy of action. It worked outside of the international norms that regulate, standardize, and supervise the activities of the banks in various countries.

For the depositors of the IOR, mainly dioceses and religious institutes, this autonomy was seen as an advantage. The procedures for depositing and managing money were very simple and confidential, like in a family. Secrecy was guaranteed. Interest rates were higher than in other financial institutions.

This absence of external supervision enjoyed by the IOR was, however, also very attractive to less virtuous subjects, tempted to use the Vatican bank for illicit operations, using religion as a cover, disguising themselves as benefactors or exploiting the naivety of depositors.

- Sandro Magister

SOURCE AND FULL ARTICLE

Vatican and Finance. The April Revolution (www.chiesa) Read more at www.ucanews.com

 

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Vatican Admits Priests are Raping Nuns

Amplify’d from atheism.about.com

Vatican Admits Priests are Raping Nuns Around the World

By Austin Cline

It's not just little kids who are endangered by Catholic priests -- Catholic nuns also have reason to fear. The Vatican has finally admitted that nuns all around the world have been sexually abused and even raped by priests. Africa has had the most problems, but many other countries have been involved as well, including India, Ireland, Italy, the Philippines and the United States.

Confidential Vatican reports obtained by the National Catholic Reporter, a weekly magazine in the US, have revealed that members of the Catholic clergy have been exploiting their financial and spiritual authority to gain sexual favours from nuns, particularly those from the Third World who are more likely to be culturally conditioned to be subservient to men.

The reports, some of which are recent and some of which have been in circulation for at least seven years, said that such priests had demanded sex in exchange for favours, such as certification to work in a given diocese. In extreme instances, the priests had made nuns pregnant and then encouraged them to have abortions. The US article was based on five documents, which senior women from religious orders and priests have presented to the Vatican over the past decade. They describe a particularly bad situation in Africa. In a continent devastated by Aids, nuns, along with early adolescent girls, are perceived by some as safe sexual targets. The reports said that the church authorities had done little to tackle the problem. The Vatican reports cited countless cases of nuns forced to have sex with priests. Some were obliged to take the pill, others became pregnant and were encouraged to have abortions. In one case in which an African sister was forced to have an abortion, she died during the operation and her aggressor led the funeral mass. Another case involved 29 sisters from the same congregation who all became pregnant to priests in the diocese. Source: The Independent Wow -- people abusing position of religious power and authority to get sexual favors... who could ever have expected that to happen? Well, just about anyone with even a causal familiarity with the history of people holding religious power and authority... especially men holding religious power and authority over women. To be fair, this isn't something limited to just religious contexts -- we see similar problems in other institutions as well. It's just that when we see people with political or corporate power abusing their positions to get sexual favors, they aren't also typically preaching to others the evils of sex and abortion. And as if all the abuse, rape, and hypocrisy weren't bad enough, it appears that high-level Vatican leaders worked to suppress the reports of what's been happening in order to save the public image of their church. Gee, sound familiar? When [Sister Marie McDonald, mother superior of the Missionaries of Our Lady of Africa] addressed bishops on the problem, many of them felt it was disloyal of the sisters to send reports. "However, the sisters claim they have done so time and time again. Sometimes they were not well received. In some instances they are blamed for what happened. Even when they are listened to sympathetically nothing much seems to be done" One of the most tragic elements that emerges is the fate of the victims. While the offending priests are usually moved or sent away for studies, the women are normally chased out of their religious orders, they are then either to scared to return to their families or are rejected by them. they often finished up as outcasts, or, in a cruel twist of irony, as prostitutes, making a meagre living from an act they had vowed never to do. Every institution has "bad apples," and when an institution grows large and diverse enough, the number of such "bad apples" will also grow rather large. Given the size of the Catholic Church, it would be surprising if there weren't at least a few incidents like these happening from time to time. So it would be wrong to hold the Vatican and the church itself to be blameworthy... until we read about the leadership's reactions. A morally and ethically responsible leadership would act to stop such abuses and crimes. It would take steps to prevent them from happening again, at least to the extent possible. Instead, the leadership acted to stop such abuses from becoming public knowledge. They blamed the victims, hid reports, moved around the rapists, and drove off the women. Sound familiar? It should -- that's much how the Vatican and church leaders reacted when told about priests raping children. Coincidence? I don't think so. This is a pattern of behavior that derives directly from what the institution and its leaders truly value. It tells us what's really going on in the halls of power. Put most simply, though, it tells us that the Vatican should not be treated as holding any sort of moral, political, or social authority whatsoever. It's too corrupt, venal, and concerned with preserving its own power to care about the people being harmed. Read more at atheism.about.com

 

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Apocalypse is Vatican's Worst Nightmare

Unfolding Apocalypse is Vatican's Worst Nightmare Now Realized

Amplify’d from www.theopenpress.com

Unfolding Apocalypse is Vatican's Worst Nightmare Now Realized

by: SevenStarHand

Ancient prophecies redundantly predict that the Vatican will cease to exist after its deceptions are widely exposed. Currently unfolding events are shaking the Vatican to its core and will soon lead directly to its long-predicted demise.

(OPENPRESS) March 24, 2011 -- The long-misused term "apocalypse" actually refers to the revealing of long-hidden secrets and the solving of ancient mysteries, which consequently causes the rapid collapse of traditional dogma, assumptions, and by logical extension, any wealth and power long associated with them. Contemplate the term "Apoca-Leaks" to grasp what now faces all religious leaders. The Vatican, as the prime example, has maintained wealth and power for two millennia by ruthlessly and deceptively preventing most people from understanding the truth about the symbolism and symbology of ancient wisdom that also permeates religious canons. They went to great lengths in previous centuries to oppress and massacre entire populations because they had gained some small insights into the proof that all three so-called Faiths of Abraham are purposeful deceptions. It has been understood within certain circles, throughout the last few millennia, that religion has always been based on deception and ignorance about the true nature of life in this universe. Christian Rome took the level of deception to heights not seen before them. They also undertook great efforts over the centuries to stamp out any proof that Christianity was a lie. This included attempting to stamp out evidence of the ancient wisdom flowing from the time before ancient Egypt, and encoded within its symbology. The Bible is full of Hebrew symbolism which can be traced directly to ancient Egypt. Furthermore, ancient symbology encodes precisely what Christian Rome has struggled so hard to bury. They were apparently unaware of this initially and its discovery set them on a path of desperately trying to hide the truth, but most especially the truth about the symbology and its Egyptian roots. As described in earlier articles and releases and throughout Finishing the Mysteries of Gods and Symbols, by Seven Star Hand , the ancient sages and prophets participated in a very long-term sting-operation against religion and its leaders. The symbology of the ancients was used to author prophecies and other symbolic narratives over the millennia. The ancient symbols are also used as an advanced encryption methodology. In this way, vital secrets could be buried within texts that had multiple verifiable layers of meaning. Revealing the truth about ancient symbols and the symbolism of these religious canons is one of the pivotal aspects of the long predicted apocalypse. That is the reason Mr. Buddy Page, aka Seven Star Hand, has spent the last decade reverse-enginnering, validating, and writing about the symbology of ancient wisdom that permeates religious canons. Another focus has been on the activities of the Vatican and cohorts. Numerous prophecies have predicted that the Vatican's demise is imminent and they are fully of aware of it. They have known the general time frame for centuries. St. Malachy's listing of Popes and Nostradamus both point to Pope Benedict, number 111 on the list, as the final Pope. The Book of Revelation also redundantly focuses on Christian Rome and the Vatican and the rapid collapse of their power and wealth after certain deceptions are exposed to the world. Vatican means "City of Prophecy" and they have spent many centuries fearing and prepping for the time that is now unfolding. One of their purposes has been to cast such a wide web of deceit that the long-awaited "Messiah" would be attacked and defeated by those who have been deceived through money, religion, and/or politics. A series of articles titled "The Apocalypse Now Unfolds" will be published at the blog titled "Vatican Lies Illuminated" starting this week. This series will expound upon these details and live up to the true meaning of "Apocalypse." You may also read Finishing the Mysteries of Gods and Symbols to understand the supporting evidence and rules for the symbology.

Science and ancient wisdom have finally worked together to unlock the mysteries of the ancient past and decisively prove the truth about all religions. You may prove it to yourself at SevenStarHand.org.

SevenStarHand.org Phone: (541) 362-1107 E-mail: Click Here to Send Web site: http://www.sevenstarhand.org Read more at www.theopenpress.com

 

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