The current head of the Roman Catholics is in Paris this weekend and appearing to huge crowds. Pope Benedict XVI may be a wonderful human being but when he spoke to a couple hundred thousand at an outdoor mass Saturday, his words fairly shouted a do-what-I-say-not-what-I-do attitude. I don't mean to be disrespectful but his remarks were breathtakingly hypocritical and disingenuous. He condemned

unbridled pagan passion for power, possessions and money as a modern-day plague. . . . [and] he called the faithful to “flee idols” such as “money, thirst for possessions, power and even knowledge”. . . .

While it is true that in the past few commoners had much money or possessions, noblemen and monarchs sought and gathered wealth beyond measure. Remember the Medicis? Catherine the Great? The gold room of Peter the Great? Elizabeth the 1st? Henry VIII? The Russian Revolution? European courts through the centuries were driven to amass power, possessions and money. So it's hardly accurate to say this is the most materialistic time in history.

Furthermore, excuse my sarcasm but he thinks we deserve condemnation for having a "pagan passion for power"?! The pope is the singular and revered head of state of Vatican City as well as the bowed-to head of the R.C. Church. As such he is one of the wealthiest humans on earth. Furthermore, Catholics are instructed to take his word as equivalent to God's because he is the "elected monarch" (nice phrase) of Vatican City, the small territory inside Italy which issued its own money until 1999 when it adopted the Euro. The Church does not pay taxes despite a huge revenue. The basilicas and churches in Vatican City contain some of the world's most valuable art and decorations (the Pieta, the Sistine Chapel being only the most renowned) and some floors and walls are literally covered in gold and gems. In official ceremonies, the pope wears gold- and fur-edged robes as well as the jeweled and gold mitre, not to mention the large and heavy "ring of the fisherman" which he wears all the time and which visitors kiss with obeisance. In some ceremonies, he is carried in a throne held aloft (by human beings, for goodness sake). But we should be less craven in our lust for possessions, power and money. Right. It really is a blatant case of do-what-I-say-not-what-I-do. And it's particularly unfortunate that this man whose words are heard as complete and utter truth and with uncritical acceptance by many would speak such incorrect and hypocritical words.

The pope and his church, after all, have had for centuries and continue to have enormous power, billions of possessions and wealth beyond measure.

Labels: people, ridiculousness