ROME (Reuters) - Bob Geldof, the rock-star-turned anti-poverty campaigner, called on Pope Benedict on Tuesday to join the protest near next month's G8 summit to add his voice to the throngs who will be calling for action to help Africa.Sir Bob sez he wrote hisself a letter t' ol' Bennie the 16th an' alls Bendicto sent back was a pitcher of hisself. Yeow! Don't Bendict know what a important feller Sir Bob is? I hope he at least autygraphed that there pitcher.
Fact is, it'd probbly be a good thing if ol' Benedict let BobbbyBoy Gelding bend his ear a bit on the anti-poverty angle. I figger the church is on shaky ground when it comes t' lookin' out fer the pore folks. When yer lookin' at all o' them golden statues an' jewelled head-dresses an' the opulence o' Rome, it's hard t' give much cred t' the RC's.
Down in Central an' South Merka an' over in Africa, the church's got lotsa power an' them folks got troublems like over-populated slums an' corrupt gummints an' AIDS. Them's all troublems that're either caused by poverty or else they get worse on accounta poverty. I heard tell last week that ol' Benedict sez the Africans dyin' o' AIDS better not use condoms. Shee-it! What century is this guy livin' in?
Yores trooly,
JimBobby
2 comments:
JimBobby
You are so right. The Pope could do with a sit down with Sir Bob. The Church is saying no to condoms, maybe they can say yes to food, education and employment.
The Church does already say yes to food and education (and health care, too, to boot), and has been saying this yes for longer than any of us here can trace our family lineage back.
The Church has made caring for the poor one of its mainstay positions throughout its history. You do realize that Canada's education system and health care system were initially founded by churches, probably most significantly by the Catholic Church.
As for the 'riches' of the Catholic Church. The majority of items that the Vatican owns are themselves charitable gifts from benefactors of the Church. The Church holds these in trust for people throughout the world (well, at least those who can travel to see them) to enjoy them/be inspired by them. How much, exactly, would you charge for the artwork in the Sistine Chapel, and to whom would you sell it? And which capitalist would you then like to support by paying his fees to enter it to view it (or when it was bought by a private individual, would you expect it to become off-limits to the public?)?
People in the churches are already more likely to support the poor, in whatever form that charity takes - I'm not sure why pressing for the selling of religious artifacts should be added to that list.
Good swipe at the Church's position on condoms, Rick, where it won't be fully debated. The Church's position on these issues (which solves more problems than it causes), too, is much more humane than secular society's (which leads to more problems than it solves).
Post a Comment