Action from the Richest Religion : Vatican can wipe out entire Third World debt & poverty
Posted on July 29th, 2014
Shenali D Waduge
The Vatican City is a land locked state inside the city of Rom, Italy and governed by the Pope (Bishop of Rome). It is the world’s smallest sovereign on just 110 acres. The Pope is not only head of 2.3billion people but he is also head of a global financial empire. The Vatican that promotes giving and sharing is notoriously secretive about the riches it hoards. Its wealth ranges from treasures confiscated during the Inquisition, colonial rule and includes financial holdings, real estate, works of art and even a full-fledged media conglomerate which ensures nothing too controversial is relayed to the global public. While 2/3 of the world earns less than $2 a day, and 1/5 of the world is underfed or starving to death, the Vatican hoards the world’s wealth, profits from it on the stock market and at the same time preaches about giving. Yet, 842million are in hunger – 60 percent of the world’s hungry are women. 8,500 children per day die due to hunger. Nearly 1/2 of the world’s population — more than 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. The cost to end world hunger is $30 billion a year. U.S. spent $737 billion in 2012 on defense!
The Vatican City and the Holy See
There is a need to distinguish between the Vatican City and the Holy See. The Holy Se governs the nation. All contracts are signed by the Holy See. Its revenues are generated through donations from Catholics (Peter’s Pence), from interest and investments of its reserves in Western European currencies and bonds as well as in the New York Stock Exchange and even real estate. US Catholics had donated $97million to Peter’s Pence.
Origins of the Roman Catholic Church
The New Testament reveals that the Catholic Church did not have its origins in the teachings of Jesus or His apostles. The New Testament does not mention any papacy or Mary or to petition saints in heaven for their prayers or confession of sin to a priest.
To answer the question on the origins of the Catholic Church we need to be aware that Christianity was banned by the Roman Empire for the first 280 years of Christian history. The change came after Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and lifted the ban in 313AD but Constantine’s Christianity was one mixed with Roman paganism. Pagan beliefs became Christianized just as Christians absorb itself into other indigenous religions with ulterior motives.
Some of these paganisms include
a) cult of Isis (Egyptian mother-goddess) replaced Mary with reference to Queen of Heaven and Mary given an exalted role in order to attract Isis worshippers. Temples of Isis were converted to those dedicated to Mary. However, the Catholic Church denies the pagan connections to its origins though in reality these beliefs and practices have nothing to do with the Scripture. Yet, the truth remains that the Catholic Church ‘christianized’ pagan religions to make itself welcome to the Roman people.
b) Mithraism was replaced with Christianity. Mithraism was practiced by Roman soldiers of the Roman Empire from 1st – 5th centuries AD was a defacto religion without ‘official status’ of the Roman Empire. The sacrificial meal (eating flesh and drinking blood of a bull) was practiced by the Mithras. Those that took part in this meal was said to be granted salvation. Lord’s Supper/Christian communion replaced the Mithraism.
c) Romans were henotheists (believers of many gods but focused on one god as supreme –Roman god Jupiter supreme over pantheon gods, got Neptune god of the Oceans etc). Thus pantheon gods were replaced with saints.
d) the papacy was created with the support of the Roman emperors. Thus, the state and religion became centralized. When the Roman Empire collapsed it was just a matter of the Popes taking the titles that belonged to the Roman emperors – Pontifex Maximus.
This is why the Catholic Church is said to be an extension of the Roman Empire (Imperium Romanum).
Is it just a coincidence that the Roman terms are now clothed under papacy – Roman Governors now Archbishops, Roman Senators now Cardinals, Departments of Roman Senate now Congregations, Political ambassadors pro-nuncio and Roman Calendar and Holy Days of the gods now Calendar Holidays of the Saints? If voice of the Gods spoke through Caesar is the same function now done by the Pope? According to Roman Code of Canon Law a treaty signed with Rom makes Romans the head of the foreign country. It was only in 1984 that Ronald Reagan signed the treaty in the US and UK signed the treaty in 1982.
Estimating the wealth of the Catholic Church – How did the Catholic Church become so rich and powerful?
§ Putting a price tag on sin (bishops/Popes market sin, guilt and fear and worshippers were encouraged to pre-pay for sins not yet committed)
§ Wealthy land owners had to live land and fortune to Church on deathbed in exchange for blessings so they could go to heaven – Pope Leo 5th is said to have rebuilt St. Peter’s Basilica by selling tickets from hell to heaven!
§ Sale of ‘forgiveness for sins’ – practice of making people believe that a payment to church for forgiveness will purify them.
§ Hoarded wealth during the Dark Ages from the poor and hoarded knowledge by denying the poor education even reading
§ The Christian Crusades from 1095-1291AD tortured, murdered, beheaded and killed thousands of Muslims in the name of God under Pope’s orders. These soldiers were called the Knights of the Temple of Solomon and are known today as Freemasons
§ The Inquisition from 1450 to 1700AD were against all non-Catholics who were hunted down, tortured and burned alive on a stake.
The Vatican was criticized for supporting Hitler during World War 2. The Pope blessed Hitler and named him ‘the envoy of God’
Over the past 50 years over 500 priests/bishops have been involved in sexual crimes against thousands of young boys and girls and violating their rights with no compensation given to the traumatized victims?
It is anyone’s guess how rich the Vatican is. It is anyone’s guess what lies beneath the basements of the Vatican where rumors of stolen artifacts, gold and silver pilfered from nations ever since the Inquisition remain unreturned to their rightful owners. The money in possession of the Church in reality belongs to their victims! Vatican City generates its income via tourism through museum admissions, tours, stamps, coins and publications.
Who are these victims? Does the Catholic Church recall what they did to the Inca temples when Spain invaded South America? Inca temples were razed to the ground and on top of these Churches were built.
How rich is the Catholic Church?
The power of the Vatican is unlimited. It is a force that drives both rich and poor. It thrives on poverty because those depressed will believe in anything and anyone.
The chalice held by the Pope on his left hand has 122 diamonds (ranging from 3 to 27 karats). The chalice held in the right hand holds 72 diamonds (ranging from 3 to 15 karats) There aresaid to be dozens of similar chalices. There are 22 crowns which contain over 1700 diamonds and countless gems. The papal bathrooms are said to be over $100m dollars! These cannot be Christ’s hidden treasures!
The Associated Press estimated in 2004 that the Holy See’s real estate excluding St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel was worth a billion dollars.
The Vatican Bank also known as the Institute for Works on Religion (IOR) is a financial institution founded in 1942 with a mandate to safeguard and administer property for the Church and its activities. It is also known as the world’s most secretive bank. It is amusing as to why the Vatican Bank should keep records secret when large part of the donations are from the faithful and they number 1.2billion and expanding.
The Vatican Bank has been accused of money laundering with Italian authorities seizing $30m from Vatican’s account in Italy’s Credito Artigano Spa. The New York Times claims that the Vatican Bank has 33,000 accounts and 20,772 clients with close to 70% the clergy.
The Economist has revealed that Church owned entities in the US spent $170billion in 2010 but why is the revenue never disclosed? Incidentally, only 16 companies have more than $170billion in revenues in the US! That should speak volumes of the amount that the Church is not disclosing!
According to Ivan Ruggiero, the Holy See’s chief accountant, Vatican’s real estate is worth about 700 million euro ($1.21 billion), not including its priceless art treasures,
The Church’s financial structure is said to be as a result of cash originally handed over by Mussolini in return for papal recognition of the Italian fascist regime in 1929 which the Vatican takes great pains to keep secret.
§ the premises of Bulgari, the upmarket jewellers in New Bond Street, headquarters of the wealthy investment bank Altium Capital belong to the Vatican
§ Vatican spent £15m of those funds to buy 30 St James’s Square
§ Other UK properties are at 168 New Bond Street and in the city of Coventry. It also owns blocks of flats in Paris and Switzerland. (UK Guardian)
§ The UK purchases for the Vatican was through prominent Catholic bankers: John Varley, CEO Barclays bank and Robin Herbert, formerly of the Leopold Joseph merchant bank (UK Guardian)
§ The Mussolini investments in Britain are currently controlled by a papal official in Rome, Paolo Mennini, who is in effect the pope’s merchant banker. Mennini heads a special unit inside the Vatican called the extraordinary division of APSA – Amministrazione del Patrimonio della Sede Apostolica – which handles the so-called “patrimony of the Holy See”. A report by the Council of Europe has placed assets of Mennini’s special unit over €680m (£570m).
§ The Vatican palace is said to have 11,000 rooms and no female housemaids!
§ The Vatican has large investments with the Rothschilds of Britain, France and America, with the Hambros Bank, with the Credit Suisse in London and Zurich. In the United States it has large investments with the Morgan Bank, the Chase-Manhattan Bank, the First National Bank of New York, the Bankers Trust Company, and others.
§ The Vatican has billions of shares in the most powerful international corporations such as Gulf Oil, Shell, General Motors, Bethlehem Steel, General Electric, International Business Machines, T.W.A., etc.”
The Vatican has large investments with the Rothschilds of Britain, France and America, with the Hambros Bank, with the Credit Suisse in London and Zurich. In the United States it has large investments with the Morgan Bank, the Chase-Manhattan Bank, the First National Bank of New York, the Bankers Trust Company, and others. The Vatican has billions of shares in the most powerful international corporations such as Gulf Oil, Shell, General Motors, Bethlehem Steel, General Electric, International Business Machines, T.W.A., etc. At a conservative estimate, these amount to more than 500 million dollars in the U.S.A. alone. 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.” (Avro Manhattan)
. . . this morning, I flushed my toilet with a solid gold lever edged with diamonds and at this very moment, bishops and cardinals are using a bathroom on the second floor of the papal palace which trappings, I am told, would draw more than fifty million dollars at auction . . . Believe me, one day, we who live inopulence, while so many are dying because they have nothing, will have to answer to Jesus as to why we have not carried out His instruction, ‘Love thy neighboras thyself.’ We, the clergy of the Church together with our congregations, who substitute gold and pomp and ceremony in place of Christ’s instruction, who judge our masquerade of singing His praises to be more precious than human life, will have the most to explain.” (Pope John Paul 1st,1978)
It is not difficult to realize why Pope John Paul 1 was murdered just 33days into the head of thePapacy.
Pope John Paul 1 ordered a complete review of the Church’s finances including global liquid assets. He was present for the internal audit of the Vatican Bank, he invited art dealers to appraise the value of art treasures, he surveyed the papal estate and 4 palaces and luxury resort city, he halved the bonus of the Vatican cardinals (which John Paul II raised to 18% after election), he decided to move to a small four room apartment. He decided to follow Christ’s advice if thou be perfect, sell all that thou hast and give to the poor”. He did not wish to live in luxury amidst priceless art, architecture, jewels, gold and treasures while children all over the world were starving to death and he realized that the Church’s position on birth control was the reason for that starvation.
Jesus was the poorest of the poor. Roman Catholicism, which claims to be His church, is the richest of the rich, the wealthiest institution on earth. (…) How come, that such an institution, ruling in the name of this same itinerant preacher, whose want was such that he had not even a pillow upon which to rest his head, is now so top-heavy with riches that she can rival – indeed, that she can put to shame – the combined might of the most redoubtable financial trusts, of the most potent industrial super-giants, and of the most prosperous global corporation of the world?” Avro Manhattan.
The Church and its leaders headed by the Pope are eternally preaching to give. It is a most noble and charitable request but why does that goodwill not start with the Church and in particular by removing all that’s hidden treasures in the basement and returning all that was stolen and thereafter making use of the investments to really eradicate poverty. None of the Church’s wealth realistically belongs to the Church and questions why they are not distributed amongst those that need it?
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day;
teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime
July 29th, 2014 at 3:38 pm
To quote the article: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. The Roman Catholic church is the way it is because it was founded by the conversion of the Roman emperor Constantinople. Many of the Roman traditions continued through this new faith. It is then by no surprise that the head of the Roman catholic faith is in Rome.
But there is another chapter to the 1 Billion Catholics who turn to Rome. The article made a mistake when it claimed that the Pope is head of 2.3 Billion people. he is not. One Billion Christians are Protestants who do not consider the Pope their head, among them is the Church of England or the Anglicans making the British Empire the largest Protestant Christian Empire in the world and the largest Empire the world has ever known. The United States which filled the void of the British Empire continued the Protestant Christian domination during the “American age” that defined the rest of the 20th century.
There is still another chapter and that is the Eastern Orthodox church that was born in Constantinople during the time of Christ. It covers a vast area which includes Russians. many east European nations and is the only Christian denomination to have a church in the continent of Antarctica. Please Google “Greek Orthodox church” wikipedia and Eastern Orthodox church Wikipedia. The Eastern Orthodox church does not recognize the Pope as the spiritual head of their denomination.
July 29th, 2014 at 4:33 pm
A small problem.
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”
This contradicts SW’s previous article which said we should give animals the same right to life.
I used to fish until one day I imagined the HORROR a fish goes through when captured. Either its throat is pierced with a sharp hook (unimaginably cruel) or strangled to death (by cutting air supply). Really CRUAL ways to kill.
No offence meant. Just stating a fact.
“The Vatican has billions of shares in the most powerful international corporations such as Gulf Oil, Shell, General Motors, Bethlehem Steel, General Electric, International Business Machines, T.W.A., etc.”
This statement is also factually INCORRECT today. You can check the shareholders of these companies.
July 29th, 2014 at 4:52 pm
It is impossible to calculate the wealth of the Roman Catholic Church. In truth, the church itself likely could not answer that question, even if it wished to.
Its investments and spending are kept secret. Its real estate and art have not been properly evaluated, since the church would never sell them.
There is no doubt, however, that between the church’s priceless art, land, gold and investments across the globe, it is one of the wealthiest institutions on Earth.
Since 313 A.D., when Catholicism became the official religion of the Roman Empire, its power has been in near-constant growth.
The church was able to acquire land, most notably the Papal States surrounding Rome, convert pagan temples and claim relics for itself. Over 300 years, it became one of Europe’s largest landowners.
For the next thousand years, tithes and tributes flowed in from all over Europe. Non-Christians and even fellow Christians were killed and their property confiscated. For example, the Fourth Crusade and the sack of Constantinople in the early 13th century brought it gold, money and jewels.
But by the beginning of the 20th century, the church had faced several hundred years of turbulence. Protestantism had claimed many of its members. The French Revolution at the end of the 18th century outlawed the church and though Napoleon allowed it to return, his relationship with various popes was stormy.
Despite this, the church retained great influence in Europe and the Jesuit order focused on missionary work, spreading Catholicism to other countries.
In the 1870s, the Papal States were annexed by the new kingdom of Italy and the pope’s territorial influence dwindled to the Vatican.
In 1929, the Church received compensation for its lost land in an agreement with the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini. Under the Lateran Accords, it was paid about $92-million and, in return, recognized his government.
Investing that money helped fill the Holy See’s coffers, ensuring its financial security.
According to Britain’s Guardian newspaper, the nest egg has grown to at least $655-million.
The Vatican’s portfolio includes property in London, including the building housing Bulgari Jewelers, and apartment buildings in Paris and Switzerland.
The symbolic value, in euros, of the buildings in Vatican City. The church uses this number to indicate they are priceless and could never be sold. They include: the Apostolic Palace, the pope’s official residence; the Sistine Chapel, best known for murals by Botticelli and Michelangelo, who painted the ceiling and the famous Last Judgment behind the altar; and St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest church in the world erected over the supposed burial site of the apostle St. Peter, the first bishop of Rome.
716,290 The amount of Church-owned land, in square kilometres, across the globe — an area slightly bigger than Alberta. Properties include Vatican embassies, churches, cathedrals, monasteries, some schools and convents.
10 Reported investment (in billions of dollars) in foreign companies by the Institute of Religious Works (the Vatican bank) in the 1990s. It has holdings in such industries as banking, insurance, chemicals, steel, construction and real estate. It only invests in companies that operate according to Catholic morals. For example, it will not invest in a pharmaceutical company that produces birth control.
86 In millions of dollars, Peter’s Pence in 2011. The Vatican’s most important source of ready cash is made up of donations from parishes across the globe. The money is spent on humanitarian projects, including disaster relief, medical aid, and help to the poor in developing nations, children and refugees.
22.4 In millions of dollars, the approximate value of almost one metric tonne of gold owned by the Holy See in 2008.
308 In millions of dollars, the Vatican’s revenue in 2011. It spent $326.4-million, but ended the year with a $27-million surplus.
31 In millions of dollars, the amount seized from the Vatican bank by Italian authorities during an investigation into money laundering.
2 In billions of dollars, the amount paid out as settlements by the church for sex-abuse allegations in the United States.
July 29th, 2014 at 5:13 pm
“I used to fish until one day I imagined the HORROR a fish goes through when captured. ”
Everyone feels this but craving makes you indiffenrt to other’s sorrow. This will bring sorrow to you one day.
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” – a stupid saying by a Church.
Give man a fish you at least stip his suffering temporaily. TEach him how to fish, you may bring temporary happiness but you bring him much more suffering in the years and many births to come and you your self will suffer even more. STUPID is too good to describe this.
July 29th, 2014 at 6:42 pm
මීන විලාපය
——–
කෙළිදෙලෙන් දවසරින අහිංසක දරුව නේ
තෙපි නොදන්නේ වුවද බියකරුය් ලොව අ නේ
අපේ ලොව දෙබෑ කර ඔරු හබල් ගසමි නේ
මිනිස් රකුසන් එතී සැ ඟ වියව් පැට වු නේ
අපේ දරුවන් කපා උයා රස කර මි නේ
තොපේ දරුවන් කවා ලොකු මහත් කරමි නේ
අපේ ගත රුහිරු මත තොපේ ලොව හෙට දි නේ
ගොඩ නැගීමද තොපේ මිනිස්කම මිනිසු නේ
පන නාහන එවුන්ගේ දුක සොයන මිනිසු නේ
පන නැහෙන එවුන්ගේ දුක නැද්ද වැටහු නේ
අපි අපේ පාඩු වෙය් මෙහි ඉන්නේ දෙවිය නේ
වනසන්නෙඇ ය් අපට උරුම ලොව මිනිසු නේ
July 29th, 2014 at 10:23 pm
ජේසු සමිඳු මේ ලෝකෙට බිහිඋනේ
මිනිසා පවින් ගලවා ගන්ටද අනේ
එතුමා පවා අප මරමින් ඒදිනේ
කුසගිනි නිවුවෙ ඇයි ? බයිබලෙ කියවුනේ
ලොවවැසි සියලු සත ගලවා දුකිමිනේ
බුදුරජු දෙසූ දම් රකිනා සිහලුනේ
ගෙරිමස් නොකා අපෙ මස් රස කරමිනේ
කෑමෙන් මිදෙනු මැන මොක්සුව පතමිනේ
July 30th, 2014 at 12:25 am
Last poem is reserved for my Muslim brothers
මොහොමඩ් තුමා දෙසු දහමින් සැනසුනේ
ඌරා පමණි, ඇයි අල්ලා දෙවියනේ ?
මිලියන් ගනන් ජීවිත නැති කරමිනේ
මස් දන් දී පින් කලෙ අයිඩ් දින අනේ
July 30th, 2014 at 2:01 am
Nice bit of plagiarism by the author from the UK Daily Mail (seriously?)of 22 January 2013.
So, what if the Catholic Church (Vatican) is powerful and rich? So is the Jewish faith if you consider the wealth of the Jewish diaspora and Banks controlled by the same.
Muslims are too, if you take account of the oil and investments of the Ruling families in the Middle East.
July 30th, 2014 at 6:51 am
marco
every body knows about muslims jews are rich and vice and only kill their enemy muslims. we all know about these people but very few knows about Vatican and how they earned money. Vatican encouraged their people to invade other countries and bring money to them
July 30th, 2014 at 9:03 am
SW,
So what is the moral of your story here?
1. Buddhism is a powerless ant compared to the Catholic Elephant?
2. We as Buddhists should also en-mass wealth the way the Catholic Church did/do?
3. Buddhist should rise against the Catholics of Sri Lanka?
4. ….?
July 30th, 2014 at 9:29 am
Nanda,
You say, “Give man a fish you at least stip his suffering temporaily. TEach him how to fish, you may bring temporary happiness but you bring him much more suffering in the years and many births to come and you your self will suffer even more. STUPID is too good to describe this.”
You need some brushing up on Christianity. They do not believe in reincarnation. So they do not care about your “much more suffering in the years and many births to come” concept. In fact, they may call you STUPID for believing that. By the way, have you met anyone who had much more suffering in the years and in many births as a result of eating fish? If not why talk about it?
Why do you take religion so seriously? After all they all say good things and you should refrain from promoting “my religion is better than your religion” concept, which we used to play when we were all kids!
July 30th, 2014 at 3:18 pm
u don’t have believe reincarnation to know that killing is bad , hurting is bad there are millions of vegans even in Christian countries. if u don’t feel sad when u see how a fish suffer when caught u are an idiot and a nasty man
July 30th, 2014 at 3:18 pm
u don’t have believe reincarnation to know that killing is bad , hurting is bad there are millions of vegans even in Christian countries. if u don’t feel sad when u see how a fish suffer when caught u are an idiot and a nasty man
July 31st, 2014 at 8:52 am
Senavirath,
Did I say one has to believe reincarnation to know that killing is bad? No religion says killing is good. Eating or not eating fish is something that each individual has to decide based on what ever beliefs (personal/religious/social/health) the person has. Veganism in Christian countries is not based on Christianity. I don’t consider people who eat fish as nasty idiots. If you go by that, more than 90% of the world’s population is nasty idiots.
My advice for you is practice your religion and beliefs privately and try not to impose them on others, who do not agree with you by calling them nasty and idiots. Name calling does not look good on your intellectual outlook too.
July 31st, 2014 at 10:54 am
The article is correct in one aspect. the Vatican is the receives the largest amount of contributions than any other religious institute in the world. the second in line is the Tirumala Temple in India.
But the article contradicts itself. Just because an institute be it of a religion or not one cannot do away with poverty by simply using wealth. Most of the poverty in the world is due to corruption and not because of the lack of resources.
India is a classic case. Of the world’s most poor India has half of them. Yet India has seen two green revolutions and one white revolution. Since she opened up her economy in 1991 her middle class has exploded and the number of millionaires and billionaires in India has also increased. India is also a food exporting nation. She is a leader in several fields ranging from nuclear technology, to space technology. She is one of the ten largest industrialized nations in the world.
Many of India’s slums are located in cities where the real estate is one of the most expensive in the world. Mumbai which is India’s commercial capital is also home to Asia’s largest slum. India lacks the basics such as infrastructure, including toilets both public and private, massive degradation of her forests, untreated sewage being emptied into her rivers etc. when India still is the world’s largest recipient of foreign aid from the IMF, the World bank to the Asian Development bank. Now India is a member nation of the BRICS bank as well.
Taking all of that into consideration India should not have slums, dirt poor people, untreated sewage, rapidly diminishing forests, uncollected garbage littering her cities etc. because India is wealth enough to solve these problems but she is also one of the most corrupt nations in the world.
Same can be said of other nations such as Brazil who is a rising power in the Americas. Just her hydroelectric potential could transform Brazil into an electric exporting nation. She has Niagara falls that are mega sized. Her oil and gas reserves remains still untapped. She is about the size of the US minus Alaska and she has 365 days of sunshine that would allow agricultural seasons throughout the year. She has 200 million people mostly of working age. Yet cities like Rio De Janairo, Sao Pablo to Brazilia have large slums.