Pope Francis hits out at global 'cult of money'

[SunSeeker]

49. I don't think anyone is "vilifying" Catholic laity as "greedy."

I don't think anyone who criticizes the Vatican means to include all Catholics. I sure don't. Your argument attempts to use Catholic laity as a human shield for the Vatican and is insulting to those of us with legitimate criticisms of the Vatican. That is like when George Bush suggested that criticizing the Iraq war was not being supportive of our troops.

There is a huge difference between the Vatican and, say, the Nuns on the Bus, who I strongly admire, and who appear to be actually following the teachings of Jesus Christ.

I do think the Vatican and church hierarchy value power over Jesus' teachings, resulting in their protection of pedophile priests instead of Catholic children and hoarding gold while their parishioners starve.

I appreciate the new tone from Pope Francis, but I also see he has nonetheless continued the harassment of the Nuns on the Bus, and has not dispersed any of the Vatican's gold or riches to the poor. Nor has he gotten rid of the golden throne.

The Vatican's gold consists of a lot more than just the gold bullion in U. S. banks, as you seem to acknowledge. If you've got some links to back up that $5B figure and your assertion that the throne only has a few thousand dollars worth of gold on it (i.e. the value of a solid gold necklace), please provide them.