I like this Pope, but...

[votesparks]

when he starts melting down the palace of gold and giving it to the needy, I'll believe him.

[yeoman6987]

1. Vatican

If he does melt down stuff, I hope he leaves the Vatican alone. That place is beautiful and don't want it touched.

[snooper2]

5. Plus they are protecting the alien secrets there!

[votesparks]

7. They must have met up with a couple of priests when they got of of the spaceship

and commanded "take me to your leader."

[Rex]

2. I will really come over to his side, once he starts a campaign against

the rape by clergy and stamps it out all together.

[votesparks]

6. Agreed! And when he

stops the institutional sexism of the church by ordaining women priests.

Yes, they are great works of art. But hoarding massive wealth, while chastising others for doing so, is just a bit hypocritical.

[Rex]

8. I agree, the sexism needs to come to an end too.

Yeah sitting on a gold throne and drinking from a golden chalice while telling others not to be greedy is somewhat ironic.

[votesparks]

9. Fuck Hierarchy completely!

We are only mostly hairless apes here for a temporary existence. That some of the other mostly hairless apes would come up with schemes based on made up stories just in order to rule over the other apes in a hierarchy is most disconcerting.

[Rex]

11. True the 'age of monarchies' should have been long past up by now.

So regressive and authoritarian. Not just governments, but religions that rely on those two traits need to come into the 21st century or die out imo.

[flamingdem]

27. Well I have hair

[struggle4progress]

17. Papa’s brand new bag (NY Post | June 9, 2013 | By Kate Briquelet)

... Here’s Pope Francis in a wooden chair instead of a golden throne ...

?w=300

[SidDithers]

19. Pope Photo-Op strikes again!...nt

Sid

[struggle4progress]

20. Might be, but I don't think so

[TBF]

21. Thank you -

the inherent sexism is my main concern with him as well. I love the anti-capitalist sentiments but none of us are free until ALL of us are free.

[LittleBlue]

3. I hope to hell he doesn't melt down priceless

historical artifacts. The Vatican library alone is arguably the most extensive historically significant library in existence. Much of the artwork owned by the church is priceless and should be preserved, and not in the hands of wealthy private collectors.

[Bluenorthwest]

25. That's a specious argument, he could sell off some Midtown Manhattan real estate and fund a

thousand food banks for a hundred years. Cardinal Dolan who works hard to protect their holdings from being touched by the victims of predatory RCC employees, is the largest land owner in Manhattan. The RCC revenues in the US in 2011 were larger than those of General Electric.

[cali]

4. uh, I think your expectations are set a bit high

[el_bryanto]

10. Why stop there - look at museums like the Louvre or the Musee D'Orcy - they should all be shut down

Hoarding art - keeping it away from the people!

Bryant

[Bluenorthwest]

24. Of course just like other major organzied religio-businesses, RCC holds vast tracts of real estate

fat portfolios of stocks and bond, piles of gold and jewels, and every other instrument of wealth and investment known to humans. Touching the art and buildings treasures would of course be both wrong and utterly unnecessary.
" Timothy Dolan, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Cardinal-Archbishop of New York (a “corporation sole”, meaning a legal entity consisting of a single incorporated office, occupied by a single person), is believed to be Manhattan’s largest landowner."
http://www.economist.com/node/21560536

[NightWatcher]

12. he at least appears to have flipped through the good book once or twice

The last guy never opened it

[votesparks]

13. true

on that.

[lumpy]

15. The good book has to be interpreted because it was written by individuals who told the stories

the way they interpreted them. If it was written by God himself, he is one confused god who can't always keep his stories straight. Many a minister of the faith has to continuously labor over how to interpret the words of the Bible. Time for a modern Good Book.

[HereSince1628]

22. style manual...interesting I was thinking more like old DOS 2.x manuals

which I suppose are similar to style manuals in some way.

But I agree the key $ucce$$ for a religious document is to be full of authority re mysteries but having nothing to say that limits the way$ in which that authority and the mysteries can be applied to life.

And the documents are especially u$eful if those who memorize and interpret it to the masses can interpret it as demanding things like tithing for the interpreters.

[Bluenorthwest]

23. Really? Jesus never attacked gay people as Francis does. Jesus said 'call no man Father' but

Francis demands to be called Father and even 'Holy Father'. Jesus said 'do not pray in public as the hypocrites do'. Francis prays in public for a living. Jesus said to sell all you own and give it to the poor in order to follow him. Francis sits on one of the world's largest fortunes as head of an international organization that is virtually untaxed.
Most importantly, Jesus said not to judge others but to inspect yourself, Francis is head of an organization that has a recent history of horrific crimes against children, yet he does not seek to make amends for the wrongs done by his peers and his church, but instead he has spent many years attacking same sex couples who wish to marry. He says gay people are an attack on God's plan, but apparently child predators are part of God's plan, for Francis and his followers are content to let that horrible stuff fester and go untended while they run about shouting that gay people are evil and that we must never be allowed families. Jesus forbade his followers to whine that their brother has a speck in his eye while ignoring the log in their own eye.
In my view, Francis most often does the opposite of what Jesus said to do. Opposite.

[PATRICK]

14. The Italian cultural

museum piece is not the Kaaba but undoing all the material ties(making Vatican City a nation was supposedly a way to become more independent) is tougher than going Savanarola over the accumulation of gilded art. The real wealth is the hidden kind in the banks, the heart of the problem. The current Pope is going at that problem too. You'll need more than a corded rope and you'll have more opposition.

[MisterP]

16. "the Pope's not a Calvinist!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeldenstorm

[Beacool]

26. Would you suggest that we do the same with the treasures in the Smithsonian?

How about other nations, should they get rid of their treasures too? Should the French sell the contents of the Louvre?
The Vatican's treasure trove of art works are not something that should be destroyed. The Vatican art is mostly in exhibit. No, they should not melt items that were crafted centuries ago by master craftsmen. That would be a tragedy of historical proportions. Besides, the
Catholic church is already one of the largest NGOs in the world.