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Alessandro Di Meo / EPA
A garden at the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo, the pope's summer residence, on the outskirts of Rome. Pope Benedict XVI officially steps down on Thursday, Feb. 28. Benedict will stay at Castel Gandolfo until renovations on his permanent home are completed. Click the image for more photos.
Even though Pope Benedict XVI is leaving the papacy, he'll remain in sumptuous, familiar surroundings — at least for a few weeks.
Sometime in April, Benedict will take up permanent residence in Mater Ecclesiae, a modest convent for cloistered nuns at the Vatican. The convent is under renovation, however, so in the meantime, Benedict will live at Castel Gandolfo, the small town of about 8,000 people a few miles southeast of Rome that has been the summer retreat for popes for almost four centuries.
Vatican records indicate that Benedict has spent an average of five weeks a year at the grand Apostolic Palace at Castel Gandolfo since he assumed the papacy in 2005, so he should feel quite at home.
Alessandro Di Meo / EPA
A light switch bears the Papal seal.
And what a home it is. The complex, which overlooks Lake Albano and what's left of the enormous villa of the first-century Roman Emperor Domitian, actually dwarfs Vatican City by almost 400,000 square feet. It comes complete with landscaped gardens, an arboretum, natural conservatories, museums and fish ponds.
Step inside Pope Benedict's temporary new home
The sculptured gardens, which make up more than half of the estate, are a favorite retreat for popes, who have been known to frequently take long walk along their paths.
And don't forget the 25 dairy cattle, which are reputed to produce some of the finest milk in Europe.
The town is named for the castle of the Gandolfi family of Genoa, which was built around 1200. It was originally a fortress against marauders, which explains its high walls and other ancient barriers.
Franco Origlia / Getty Images
The Apostolic Palace and the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo on Lake Albano will be the Pope Benedict XVI's residence during the next Conclave, in Rome, Italy. The Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo, 10 miles south Rome, is also the summer residence for popes.
Formally speaking, the Vatican assumed control of Castel Gandolfo only in 1929 under the Lateran Treaty, which formalized relations between Italy and the independent state of Vatican City. But in reality, it has been the church's domain since 1596, when Pope Clement VIII seized it from the Savelli family in lieu of unpaid debts, according to the Vatican's official history.
Today, it's home not only to the Apostolic Palace but also the Vatican Observatory (where visitors can see a moon rock collected during the Apollo XVII mission), the Villa Barberini (where many remains of Domitian's palace are still visible), Villa Cybo (which is used by school of the Maestre Pie Filippini religious community), apartments for 21 employees and the Pontifical Church of St. Thomas of Villanova.
Castel Gandolfo, where Pope Benedict XVI will live until his permanent home is completed, has been a quiet sanctuary for 400 years. NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports.
The spectacular view of Lake Albano from the complex has inspired many artists. Landscapes of the scene by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, J.M.W. Turner and Claude Lorraine, among others, hang in some of the world's premier museums.
The complex itself is the setting for stunning works of religious art, as well, among them frescoes by Jan Henryk de Rosen and Angelo Righetti's statue "Madonna of the Park."
The Pontifical Church, designed in 1658 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the leading sculptor of his age, features interior domes and statues by Antonio Raggi, famous for grand pieces such as the "Virgin and Child" in Paris and the marble "Death of Saint Cecelia" in Rome. One of Bernini's own masterpieces, a fontana, or fountain, adorns the the piazza facing the Apostolic Palace.
At Castel Gandolfo, "I find everything: a mountain, a lake; I even see the sea," Benedict remarked in 2011. Those words are now engraved on a plaque in the town hall.
Benedict will move in to Castel Gandolfo late Thursday afternoon. He'll get there by helicopter — a tradition started in 1975 by Pope Paul VI, who wanted to avoid traffic on the ancient Appian Way.
Paul VI was an especially enthusiastic visitor to Castel Gandolfo. In 1972, he described its charms in words that might resonate with Benedict, who said he was abdicating because of his age and declining health:
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A view of a grotto inside the pope's summer residence.
"We, too, enjoy this God-given gift, by breathing the fresh air, admiring the beauty of our natural surroundings, appreciating the enchantment of its light and silence and seeking here to restore our lack of energy, which is never enough and now even a little scarce."
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Nice digs, paid for by Catholic parishoners world-wide, who think they are actually supporting charity work when they give money to the Church. Well, I guess it is charity, it is going to an old man in poor health who has no retirement fund.....
Yeah. Christ preached poverty. The Church could do a lot of good with the money they could get for that castle. Why do they need all these earthly riches?
Actually paid for by all of us since "religions" get a tax free status. Like RMoney giving his 10% tithe to the Mormon church and get a tax deduction for giving to a charity. Yeah, charities that spends literally billions on palaces, churches, dirty old men in retirement to say nothing of the big bill for the f-ing red shoes and silly hats and robes, and magic underwear.
Certainly would not want to inconvient the pope by traffic. The church of Christ??? Not a chance.
I think there is a BIG story here. This is about POWER not religion, and always has been.
Farewell, irrelevant old man, and to your increasingly irrelevant
"church"cult, too. Don't let the golden doors hit you on the way out.Oh, wait, you'll be sequestered for life in the Vatican!
Enjoy your sentence. Perhaps you'll get a room with a window... but I hope not.
Been there. Saw a different pope there. Got another papal blessing [two in one day]. Lots of cardinals hanging around. No desire to go back there for any reason.
Awwwwwww the smell of hypocrisy! It smells so sweet all the way up here where no beggars or paupers can sully the air and trample the fine gardens. Glad to see the church invest in the true nature of what it stands for, selfish earthly desire. All while little boys all around the world live a life of shame for having been molested by this church and its self righteous priests. And everyone wonders why there is no longer any respect for religion....PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH!!!!
The Catholic Church and the Pope have done far more good for the world than any of you stone-throwing do-nothings who would blow a thousand bucks on yourselves in a heartbeat without so much as tossing a quarter to the homeless old man sleeping on the curb.
It seems the Catholic church, like 99% of religious 'groups', have forgotten the Biblical teaching that "...it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to go to heaven." They all nit-pick, "interpret" and embellish the tiniest of other nuances in their man-made so-called "Holy" bible to suit their purposes, but seem ignorant of this one. And the Catholic Church, who were responsible for what was originally left in the texts and what was rejected for the Bible, chose to leave this metaphoric instruction in, but has completely, utterly ignored it for 1700 years, even fighting terrible wars to gain even more treasure for their coffers. I don't understand how that can be...is it just too plain and obvious? Apparently...
I know personally, even though I am a 'heathen atheist', that hypocrisy is evil. You can have all the bells and whistles that define you as a "godly man", but if you are living in splendor, you are NOT a godly man. You are nothing but a hypocrite, and you are therefore evil.
PS @JP Dogly: Before you start flinging your tripe around, you should read up on the Crusades and the Holy Inquisition. It was all done for Power and Riches. That's what you worship when you say your Hail Marys and Our Fathers.
Its good to be pope...
JP Dogly....
Speak for yourself. As for me, I'll let all of the lawsuits against the church and its priests for child molestation, both past and present, speak for the church and that guy dressed like a clown that pretends he's holy while he hides in a castle and talks to himself. Oh and I almost forgot that little thing called the Spanish Inquisition. My my hasn't the catholic church done so much good for this world! Why with all of that time and energy wasted praying for themselves, imagine what they could have been doing if they were actually using their hands to fix problems instead of create them.
@J.P. Dogly
Far more good? Please list please.
Now Vatican is a small country with no export whatsoever, how do you think they manage to have lavish life style each day? The answer is simple, it is due to donation pour in from all around the world. Most of money from donation is to sustain everyday lavish life style, a small percent will go back out to help spread the influence of the church.
Which good are you talking about? You mean like keeping humanity in the dark that Earth is not the center of the universe? Or 500 years to condemn anyone who said the Earth revolves around the Sun?
Imagine if there is no such church to hold back progresses for hundreds of years. We would advance so much now and already have a base on the Moon and ready to go to Mars already. Thanks a lot Vatican for keeping us here on Earth with little education as possible to believe in fairy tales.
I see that the usual crop of Catholic bashers and anti-religion types are here, giving each other the usual high fives in the form of up votes. Hypocrites, every one of you. Ten to one the pope is less attached to the historical surroundings that he lives in then you are to your freaking iPods. Ten to one also that few of you do anything to make the world a better place, other than whine online, because, gasp!, people embrace religion and you don't like it. That some of you - with your anti-religion, anti-Catholic stance - actually quote the Bible and talk about what is and isn't faithful to the teachings of Jesus, is laughable. You could care LESS about the teachings of Jesus, or the good that the Church does, other than to twist His words to attack that which you don't like.
One comment here criticizes the Church for "financial secrecy". Another states categorically that people in the pews pay for the pope's residence, blah blah blah, which seems to put a hole in the "financial secrecy" thing. Poor, sad people, the world could be so much better, according to YOU. Why not bash the White House next; quite a few crystal chandeliers hanging in it. Please - storm it and sell its historical contents to feed the hungry. Better yet, do that by selling your iPods.
"Imagine if there is no such church to hold back progresses for hundreds of years. We would advance so much now and already have a base on the Moon and ready to go to Mars already. Thanks a lot Vatican for keeping us here on Earth with little education as possible to believe in fairy tales."
Hold back "progresses"? "...and ready to go to Mars already"? You speak of education, but can't compose good sentences?
The man called the "father of modern genetics" was a Catholic priest, and a number of other scientific discoveries have been made by Catholics. If "progress" equals "knowledge", then you might also want to point your finger at secular governments, which have a history of abusing knowledge and science, twisting them to bad ends. Or do you blame the Vatican for that too?
I love these uneducate trolls that say the Catholic church has held back science.....LMAO
Ever heard of the Big Bang Theory? St. Louis University? Notre Dame? Loyola?Marquette University?Xavier University? Hmmmm?
HAHAHAHA
I just hope those cloistered nuns are also nurses...otherwise, why in the world is such a sick old man going to live in their convent on a permanent basis? Shouldn't he be forgetting the "temporary" palace AND the convent and moving into a nursing home?
Money laundering is a lucrative business. So all of you can quit the catholic church,,,I mean cult and the money laundering for the drug and crime syndicates will still pay for the castle/palace.
Idiot uneducated trolls! Don't they even know that the church pardoned Galileo in 1992?
So when he lived in the lap of luxury for the last 20 years or more that was not a story?
Not too shabby, considering Jesus lived in poverty. I guess the Church never read the sermon by Jesus where He said: "Sell all that you have and follow Me." Apparently, they interpreted it as: "Give all that you have to us."
"But in reality, it has been the church's domain since 1596, when Pope Clement VIII seized it from the Savelli family in lieu of unpaid debts"
Translation: "We made up a bunch of phony debts so we could steal this."
U R welcome!
;-)
"He'll get there by helicopter — a tradition started in 1975 by Pope Paul VI, who wanted to avoid traffic on the ancient Appian Way."
I hate traffic 2. So...........if I don an ugly white dress, even uglier red shoes & ignore the pedo priests-will the sheeple....err, I mean....Good Catholics buy me a helicopter 2???
;-)
MSNBC, this is in bad taste to put this excerpt out here so as to invite scorn and hatred towards the Catholic church and the Pope...
When using words like "Lavish", you are only inviting a plethora of vindictive statements from people who have no clue...
I really could not care less about any church. They are all EXACTLY the same. So, let's all be honest here and stop using this article as a means to be critical of the Catholic Church...
TELL ME.... HOW IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DIFFERENT IN THIS REGARD THAN OTHERS???
Have you every looked into what kind of money Benny Hinn has racked in over the years?
Because if you think for a second that they are any different than the Catholic Church, then you must be an EFFING MORON too.
Is anybody else hearin' my Irish brothers (U2)?
♪♫In the locust wind comes a rattle and hum
Jacob wrestled the angel
And the angel was overcome
You plant a demon seed
You raise a flower of fire
See them burning crosses
See the flames higher and higher♪♫
Um, foreign traveler, people who tithe and call it a tax deduction are not limited to Romney. Your precious Obama and other Democrats probably do the same. I doubt that you have ever seen Romney's tax return, so how do you know, anyway? BTW...NEWS FLASH...the election was over in early November and Romney didn't win, so why do you continue to harp on him rather than moving along to more recent topics, Einstein? You are only showing your own ignorance.
On a different topic...the amount of wealth owned by the Catholic church is obscene given that many of its members live in poverty or close to it.
How's your Vietnamese, Hans? Not great? Thought so. English is not easy if it's not your mother tongue.
Oliverb.... the difference is... that the RCC is an INSTITUTION. IT has a heirarchy and works just like the CORPORATION that it actually IS. No other religion operates in this manner except the LDS/MORMON Church. Almost all Protestant religions are independent. They have no organizational heirarchy. What Pat RObertson or Benny Hinn, Joel OSteen, Jim Bakker or any of these other EVANGELICAL THIEVES do is on their own. The RCC has NEVER been about religion...it's ALWAYS been about POWER, CORRUPTION, DECEPTION , WEALTH, VIOLENCE and OPPRESSION.
Hell of a halfway house.
The church was able to afford to buy these places, build huge churches and the such because they made poor people pay to go to heaven...if they did not pay their indulgences...they were told they would go to hell. It's the reason why we had the reformationwith Martin Luther. He called bs on what the pope and church were doing and started his own religion. The pope use to crown the king to show that they had the ultimate power, and when Martin Luther came around, many bailed. These were the people that sheltered Martin Luther from the church who wanted him dead. It's also the reason why mass was read and the bible was written in a language that no one spoke...so that the church could tell people whatever they wanted about the bible and they had no way of finding the truth. Martin Luther was one of the first people to print the bible in German and English...so people could read it themselves and make up their own mind about what it was saying.
Actually, you have your facts wrong. Martin Luther wasn't the first person to translate the Latin Bible into German(it had been translated into High German).But the first to do so in the more common German. Think of fancy old fashioned cursive calligraphy with swirls old English to modern printed words.One is much more difficult to read. As for the first person to translate the Bible into English, that actually happened way back in the 1380's. John Wycliffe,Oxford professor,scholar, and theologian. Producing hundreds of hand written manuscripts from the Latin Vulgate, the only text available to him. The penalty to actually having a non-Catholic version of scriptures was execution.No small sin to boot, ye the attracted many followers, along the way. One such was John Huns who actively promotes his ideas after Wycliffe's death, sharing the precious manuscripts. Considering the huge investment of time required to create each and price if caught with one.
But the Pope was so infuriated by his teachings and his translation of the Bible into English, that 44 years after Wycliffe had died, he ordered his bones to be dug-up, crushed, and scattered in the river! Hus was burned at the stake in 1415, with Wycliffe's manuscript Bibles used as kindling for the fire. The last words of John Hus were that, "in 100 years, God will raise up a man whose calls for reform cannot be suppressed." Almost exactly 100 years later, in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 Theses of Contention, to the Church door at Wittenberg. In that same year 7 people were burned at the stake, for teaching their children to say the Lord's Prayer in English.
Martin Luther wasn't trying to start his own religion, he wanted the Church to clean up its act. He wanted those in leadership to remove those things they were doing, which were never part of the scriptures to begin with. To allow people to understand what was in the scriptures for themselves so they didn't have to depend constantly on someone else for their own salvation, understanding the laws they were supposed to obey. So they would daily be nourished instead of just once a week in a language they didn't know, told to act a certain way or else. To stop the absolute power of priests, phony man-made trappings, obvious gluttony of enriching themselves at the expense of making the people suffer terribly. He was seeking earnestly to call the Church to repentance, just like prophets of old had done.With the result he got kicked out, and others understanding what he was saying, following him as they fled persecution
You Angry Church Bashers....Lighten The F#*K Up. Life is Waaaaayyyyyyyyy too Short.
not exactly the Vatican but not quite like living on the streets either.hope Pope Benny XV1 enjoys it.speculation continues as to the REAL reason for retirement?
Please try to not associate a Catholic belief as being a Christian Religion. They are not....
And the Crusades? Those were Catholics, not Christians... In their world in their lifetimes they may share many mansions, but when they take their last breath, if Jesus Christ hasn't washed them in his blood of forgiveness all they'll remember is how Hot and Horrifying it suddenly gets.
Well doc, I certainly am curious as to the "modest" cloister where the nuns USED to live. Could you PLEASE explain lavish for us lesser? I mean, I understand that having a private helicopter isn't lavish, nor gardens cultivated for thousands of years by garderners paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, can't POSSIBLY be lavish, nor could the gourmet personal chef, nor the butler who dresses the guy daily in his designer GUCCI shoes or italian designer clothes. Can't POSSIBLY be the castle worth millions upon millions of dollars that the cardinals all go and vacation at every year. So really Doc? what's lavisH?
Chosen.. did you miss the bus somewhere? all the Christian religions are BRANCHED off of the catholic church, your bible? yeah, cut from the Catholic church.. anything you ever knew about Christ at all? Gee CATHOLIC CHURCH... it's the Catholic Church that spread the Christ teachings which then engendered arguments (rightfully so) without and within and ended up with breaks which are called PROTEST or Protestant religions. So YES, the Catholic church IS a Christian religion since it too preaches (JUST as hypocritically as most Christian religions) Christ's life and teachings.
I'm also wondering why the heck the NUNS get "modest" when the pope and cardinals get "lavish." Mind you, it's just a misstatement right doc?
Are the nuns getting kicked out? Or they gonna giggle when the pope peeps on them in the shower? I can't even keep a straight face anymore. I was catholic for so long, and really REALLY held to my faith too, but all the idiotic and EVIL distractions from the Vatican completely forced me to choose between the church and God. I chose God. Cuz the church sure didn't. ("God-given" gifts indeed.) Why yes, God should choose only men in dresses as his fiancial winners on earth, from a church that STILL collaborates with govt's to coerce the people to tithe the 10% (poor Germany, even if you're NOT catholic!) Well, Jesus did go around and remove blindness from those who were blind. Seems to me the church has gone to all ends to ensure it's death. Hans.. you checking out the last pope prophecy? from its OWN monk? the church is destined to say that the devil is the Christ reborn if you believe everything is so wonderful of the church and it's teachings and propecies. Oh, and the CHURCH printed the prophecy.
<mutters to self> wonder what the heck "lavish" means I must be SO out of touch.. I mean, they OWN their own ISLAND for "god's" sake. OH.. must be because they don't own a whole country.. whoops.. they got that too..
Must be nice...
It's as much of a disgrace as the lavish marble Mormon compounds in Salt Lake City. It amazes me that in this day and age, idiots still give money to these medieval monsters. I'm sure the castle has a well-stocked dungeon of little boys.
Seeing only through the eyes of bigotry and hate, the world is a terribly dark and unhappy place for you, isn't it?
Dogsly: Look at it through a HISTORY BOOK...and you'll realize why the church is a dark and unhappy place.
Of course, that means you must have your eyes wide open, which you obviously don't.
JP Dogly....
Just look at all of the self portraits of every pope that has held the position. I think 3 are smiling. Apparently being that Holy isn't very satisfying to the inner spirit of men. Or maybe its all the other BS they are really working on the other 6 days of the week.
Wah! Wah! People believe in God and practice religion and we don't LIKE it, so we'll make bigoted, hateful, stereotyped comments on the internet! That will show 'em! Wah! Wah!
Dogly/Hans...that's okay sheeple...you keep throwing your money into their coffers. YOU are the only reason they exist.
Religion is seen by the stupid as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.
Hummmmmmm .... It's easy to be a critic ... he got there ... we didnt!
When you have worked your way up through a huge religious bureaucracy and achieved the status & position that this man has ... come back, and tell us the same crap ... perhaps then we'll listen to you with interest.
Sounds like sour grapes and a bitter aftertaste ...................
The best these haters can do is dredge up the bad history from 750 years ago.
YES! You people are SO relevant...
Oh, and there have been some priests that abuse children. True. With a population as large as the Catholic community there WILL be some miscreants.
So tell me haters? How much time and money have YOU spent on helping the poor in your life? Given up any vacation time?
Pearls before swine.
Open your eyes, Not all people that go to churches are sheeple. Some are good hard working caring people that would give their last resources to help others. It says right in the book that many that profess to be Christians are not and by their ways will never see the rewards of their faith. Love your neighbor as you do yourself. Love, Peace, and hope.
No, king david, they are indeed hoping on a reward, of heaven. It's spoken all over, don't pretend you've never heard of it. Who gives their last resources to help others? Name a few, I haven't heard of any in a LONG time. You say they would but, that doesn't mean much. Thinking and doing are totally different things.
Too bad this reward you speak of is just a ruse to keep the religious obedient, and nice.
I don't need a reward to be nice, obedient, and generous, I do it all on my own. I'm comfortable with there not being some lavish reward at the end, some fairytale heaven. Too bad for you. BTW hope has never done any good, try using your hands for something productive.
What Dogly does not realize is that by supporting the Catholic Church and its trappings, he/she is aiding and abetting all the criminals who hide behind it. Just like the Nazi officers at Nuremberg claimed during the trials, they "were just following orders". It did not work for them, and it will not work for the useful fools such as Dogly when it comes time for an accounting. Whether or not you are a Christian, it seems obvious to me that Christ would not have approved of such lavish lifestyles.
Of course, the Catholic Church is not unique in the subject of physical and moral abuses, but to say that others are just as guilty does not justify the Church's rampant depravity.
This is one other reason why I abhor religion and still believe in God.
I doubt very much if God is amused, flattered or happy about "his" Cathedrals, Castles etc.,
when his children are starving and being killed all over the world.
Viewer, I am with you.
So what do you do to make the world a better place, other than point your fingers at others while his children are starving and being killed all over the world?
Amen.
So - people applaud Viewer_Ready, whose opinion = knowledge of what pleases God, while at the same time dissing others, who feel they know what pleases God, based on centuries of tradition, writings, philosophy, etc.? Oh dear, who to follow in spiritual matters, Viewer_Ready, or the apostles and saints? Those cathedrals were built partly with the pennies and willing labor OF the poor, who took pride in them and believed that they were giving to God, the best that they could give. Once built, the same cathedrals operated hospices, orphanages, schools, and the like, serving local communities for centuries. And you mock all of this because you "know" what God "likes".
J.P. Dogly: I for one, send money to charitable organizations that use the funds to give help directly, such as local food banks, child support organizations, Habitat for Humanity, Red Cross etc. The wealth of the Catholic church is appalling, as it's intransigence in rectifying it's many mistakes. For the life of me, I cannot believe it is the church of Jesus, as it claims to be.
Viewer is like a lot of people that believe they are more intelligent than 2000 years of theological research.
@tbrownjt
And...what? You wanna be crowned a saint? Did you know Red Cross CEO (as of 2010) earned $500,000/year salary AND received a $65,000 sign-on bonus?? Do you know how much Salvation Army CEO's make?? $75-$150k! Thanks for contributing to a currupt corporation!!! Door swings both ways doesnt it?
2000 years of promoting a fairy tale for the benefit of the promoters. Sounds like a worthy endeavor to me.
canowhoopass-as a percentage of moneys taken in against moneys dispersed, (which is how you measure a charitable organization's effectiveness) those salaries are a pittance. They are also public record, while the C Church's finances are closed and inscrutable. Those organizations also do not hold on to their donations by investing in assets all over the world as the C Church does. Timberland in the Pacific Northwest anyone? So no. the door does not swing both ways.
Most of the children who are being murdered today are murdered through abortion. The Catholic Church, along with some other religions and secular groups oppose this wholesale slaughter. (although some religions & other groups are knee deep in innocent blood) The former groups , including the CC are criticized for their stance.
Blah, blah, blah. All three of you need to get over yourselves. There are over 1 billion of us. Supporting the Pope probably costs each of us about 10 cents a year.
Just think.
Five of you could be contributing to the cost of a condom for a pedophile priest.
(we can only hope the perverts use them)
Or may be they don't use condoms. Who knows?
joemike404
No one is saying he doesn't still have plenty of suckers supporting a guy that wears a dress, a beanie and designer shoes that is the complete opposite of a Christian.
That is changing. The Pope is bailing out hoping he can hide what a power hungry creep and supporters of criminals he is
spike-322306
Methinks you have no clue. When I was 10, I was in one of their boarding schools for two years. I've known for 70 years what flagrant criminals they are.
joe, get real. The C church is a fraud. How much of the C church's history were you taught in catechism?
Ironic someone who would defend this failed institution would begin a sentence with "blah, blah, blah". That's all the church has been preaching since it's inception. Last time I was in a Catholic church I got a sermon on modern economics and how it applies to the church! That's right, economics. Apparently they accpet science only when it helps them line their pockets. Gotta pay for those swanky castles and gardens!
@joemike404
The number one country with most Catholic is Brazil, next is Mexico. The people in there barely have anything and live poorly. If that is how the Catholic help people, I wouldn't want them to help me anyway. No wonder those countries are so poor, most money are shipped to Vatican to sustain their lavish life style each day.
Lies, but they sound good, don't they? You haven't a CLUE as to what the Church does in Brazil, of how priests, nuns and brothers live there, or of social movements they are involved in. People yak about the need for separation of church and state, and then point at the poor and blame the Church. "Money is shipped to the Vatican to support lavish lifestyles" my foot. You don't criticize to foster change and improvement, you criticize because you hate the Church, period, nothing more, and any "tool" to that end is fair game for you. Some countries with good standards of living are largely Catholic. But go ahead, attribute poverty in poor countries with the Vatican sucking the wealth out of them so that cardinals can drink good sherry.
Hummmmmmmm ... yet you support McDonald's, KFC, Coke and American Tobacco for feeding you fat & sugar water & poison .. that is disrupting your physical body without complaint; and you babel on about the church? LOL
I'm not catholic or even a religious person; and certainly recognize the fallibility & heinous acts that have been perpetrated in the name of the church, but I am also aware of the good work done by the church around the world for 2000 years....
To ridicule any mans religion, is a ignorant, reckless, disrespectful , discourteous,and dangerous position to assume ...
I have a pretty good idea. My priest came here from Brazil. He lived there for 40 years through sickness and pestilence so he could help feed, clothe and house the poor. What a jerk huh?
And at 83 years of age he still goes back every year to "vacation" and help.
I don't believe this for a second. Whenever Christians travel abroad to "help" the poor, they only do it so they can establish a debt of gratitude and loyalty among the locals, which they leverage to create a captive audience for their preaching. They are missionaries who think they'll go to heaven if they convert enough people. It's sneaky self-interest. And of course these missionaries want to spread "Christian Values". Thanks to Western missionaries, the Christian majority country of Uganda now has a law prescribing the death penalty for homosexuality. Missionaries are transparent self-interested dirtbags.
Anybody who really wants to help alleviate poverty in the 3rd world should donate to secular groups like Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, UNICEF, etc.
Yeah, and that Mother Theresa...what a gold digging bitch... I guess if some more of you who know exactly what God thinks and wants would follow her example you'd be rich and on the gravy train in no time. But for the time being you might want to push back from your computer and go check your mailbox to see if your gub'ment check is in there...
To compare Mother Theresa, who lived in squalor, to the Pope who lives in splendor is quite disingenious. I doubt any cardinal or Pope ever experienced the hardships of a Mother Theresa...........but go ahead and ride her accomplishments and take the credit for her endevours
joe and pew,
I bet you two don't know that Mother Theresa funneled all of the funds she ostensibly collected for her hospices to the Vatican and to anti-contraceptive campaigns in Africa. Well known facts to those willing to examine things past they pretty veneer.
EXACTLY JM.... Mother Theresa was no "saint".... she was 'criminal' in her actions just like the rest of them and an accomplice to their fraud and deception.
Actually, the Castel Gandolfo is open for tours, akin to the Coliseum, Pompeii, etc. I doubt that the personal residences are palatial.
When it comes to the incessant references to little boys---Some folks doth protest too much, methinks.
Methinks not.
What if it was your son?
viewer,
What, exactly, are you referring to? The accusations about the actions of the priests were mostly, by a large percentage, against adolescents. They were chicken-hawks, not paedophiles.
You seem to know a lot more about the subject than me.
Last time I checked, an adolescent was a child too.
viewer,
An argument about semantics, with you claiming ignorance of the implied, and evident, meanings? Please define: child, adolescent, and adult. Specific age cut-offs that are accepted worldwide.
"When it comes to the incessant references to little boys---Some folks doth protest too much, methinks."
Methinks thou are a catholic apologist who wants to bury his head in the sand and pretend this isn't one of the most corrupt and perverse instutions on Earth. The pope should be on his way to jail, not to a castle, and why the hell does a church own a castle anyway? It should be sold off to pay the victims of all of their abuses.
A chicken hawk goes after young men over the age of 18. Most of the victims of Catholic Priests are under that age, hence the term Pedophile. Get your facts strait, Spike.
Spike322306, I agree. Some of the comments made by those so fixated on the pedophiles in the Church are so graphic you have to wonder about their orientation.
@Viewer:
Some priests are pedophiles; therefore, all priests as pedophiles. Does that about sum up your "logic"?
I wonder, how would you feel if you were a priest who has never done any such thing but has only helped children throughout your career, yet someone like you comes up and calls you a child molester? What you are doing is hideously wrong. How many innocent priests are you willing to harm in your little personal crusade?
JP
You have to be a preist or part of a church to help people? Pretty much sum up your logic? Seems to me that if you really are a spiritual person that believes in God, you shouldn't work for the company that mocks your own spirituality. You also don't need to be a preist to help children. Teachers do it everyday, and when one of them gets caught molesting a child, they get fired and prosecuted for their crimes. They don't, however, get the privilege of being shielded and relocated by the school district or their peers. They also don't get to keep their jobs. Bottom line....if your choice is to dedicate your entire life to the church, you wear the stains of its sins everywhere you go. Don't like it, find another church or way to help people.
Agreed, Spike. A lot of this negative yapping springs from bigotry and hatred, not from any desire to see things made better. Child abuse IS a horrific thing, and abusers should be punished, but it's stupid to insert "pedophile" and "little boy" comments into EVERY story about the Catholic Church. "Priest saves woman in fire" - PEDOPHILE! "Ancient fresco restored at Assisi" - PEDOPHILE! "Youth gather for papal visit"-PEDOPHILE!" "Mother Theresa may be canonized"-PEDOPHILE! "Early Christian Church discovered in Israel"-PEDOPHILE!
After centuries of child molestation being hidden and the Priest being protect it was the Butler who exposed the secrets with proof. Pope Benedict earned his rich retirement after his hard work keeping the secrets. The Pope did explain on his last speech that the Lord was sleep when the evil took place and now he will pray that the Lord will over see the church. Pope Benedict said he is retiring to save the Catholic Church and he asked the faithful to support and donate to the Church.
After centuries of being a pedophile haven and playground.
The Pope got caught with pants down.
Now he passes the buck off to the next "sucker".
Yet, the "faithful" still have faith.
Reminds me of liberals.
"After centuries of being a pedophile haven and playground.
The Pope got caught with pants down.
Now he passes the buck off to the next "sucker".
Yet, the "faithful" still have faith.
Reminds me of liberals."
All this from the same person who earlier said that he knows what God likes. LOL!!!
"God was asleep."
Holy catfish, the Sky Guy is supposed to be all seeing and omnipetent, for pete's sake. What's he doing sleeping on the job.
Herr Ratizinger is mocking the Almighty; he is a heretic!!! After a few yanks on the rack, this unholy sinner should be burnt at the stake.
"Well, I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition."
"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, our chief weapon is surprise."
I can't question your faith, but from your actions I can question your sanity. Why would sane people belong to this cult?
It's a big house, but I wouldn't want to paint it.
Can you imagine trying to heat that thing?
Or dust it?
He'll probably pay someone to do it.
I mean the Catholics that are paying for it but not me. So whatever.
Does he have to stay celibate now?
He probably never was.
a man's best friend is his right hand
Its assault with a dead weapon at this point...
Hey, he served, he should receive his 40 Virgins! Berkas, robes, what's the difference?
Don't wish that! His 40 "virgins" would be little boys.
I kind of wish, that in a complex bit of arcane papal succession quirkiness, Pete Rose was made Pope.
Pete Rose. I once heard a poem about Pete Rose:
Pete Rose
Sat on a tack.
Pete rose.
Ah yes, the vicar of Christ. And the Vatican wonders why the papacy has lost relevancy to many American Catholics?
People wonder why religion is crumbling in this country. Well... Here you go!
@MJ1986 -- And that worries you... or makes you happy?
Spoken like a true ignorant of Scriptures, which variously happen to mention that in the 'end times, the wheat would be separated from the chaff, and the sheep from the goats; that people would be dealt by their Creator/Judge according to their deeds; that MANY would fall away by lending ears to false teachers and scoffers who 'tickle their ears with fanciful stories', etc. PAY ATTENTION TO THIS LAST PHRASE! The Scriptures also say that 'Only those who persevere to the end will be saved!'
So, for people like you who only manage to rant, criticize, vilify, scoff, and idly spend their time on the internet pretending they have momentous things to say that will change the mind of humanity to conform to your way of thinking... your fate in eternity is well portended. Of course, there is always enlightment and repentance to be accepted or rejected. But only YOU can decide.
In case you choose the latter of the two no one else will be there to help once you reserve a spot in the place where there is the 'reward' of ETERNAL despair, wailing, writhing and gnashing of teeth. Kind of a long time to be 'despairing', and all without the benefit of Xanax... you think? So... there you go!
for usa/no party.i wonder if hes got playstation or x-box.thks 2012
guy 2789: christ did not preach poverty. he preached the good news of redemption, life, and his gospel teachings . "to follow me you must deny your very self, take up your cross and follow me". poorness of spirit you might be thinking of. for: "blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God." he also said, "those without sin should cast the first stone".
chris-3554859
Jesus set himself up as an example. Do you see any similarity to Jesus and the a holes in the Vatican?
That's assuming you believe in a fairy tale.
The Zionist media is emboldened as of late as it regards attacking catholics.
It's not just the "Zionist media" emboldened of late, you neo nazi weirdo, it's everybody. Reason being, the Catholic Church is simply an organized fraud scheme with a systematic child molesting operation. And it's all tax-free!
Ritualistic cannibalism is fine though. "Eat this is my body, drink this is my blood". Creepy, ego-maniacal drivel.
I always wondered about that.
He should retire to a monastic cell where he can contemplate the damage to the HRCC that he leaves in his wake.
Thou shall have no other god before me.
His "Holiness" and all of his followers have it allllll wrong.
How many of you anti-Catholics would have the courage to say these hateful comments about Jews, Muslims, or African-Americans. Hate speech is hate speech.
“There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.”
― Fulton J Sheen
Jews and Muslims don't pretend to follow the teachings of Jesus...
I'm not so much anti-catholic. More like anti-hypocrite or anti-anti-Christ.
You are not reading about anti-Catholics here. If you look closely, these are comments about the Papal position demonstrating the most anti-Christ lifestyle one can imagine, while millions who follow his teachings go hungry. As far as quoting Fulton Sheen, you forgot to mention who he is and who he serves.
It would do you well to stop thinking that every time justifiable negative comments are made about someone or something, that does not dictate that it is 'hate speech', when in reality it is the truth.
They need someone to blame-- anyone will do!-- for their self-inflicted misery, and the Pope and the Church are just another convenient scapegoat for their own shortcomings and sins.
I just hate religion in general. It brings out the worst in people. Look at history. If you want to be religious, fine. But don't go using that so-called "power" to molest people, and don't use it to create laws. There's that whole separation of church and state thing.
Let's see Fulton Sheen was a bit of a media glutton who in his spare time amassed the philatelic collection worth nigh on to a million smackers (in 1950 dollars), not likely to view his detracts in a kind light.
I try not to hate religions but if I do I equally hate them based on the false actions of people that say they follow religion to serve a better purpose when in reality they serve it for thier own personal gain. As in this article these are people who are cahtolics that comes from christianity based on Jesus's teachings. Yet these people live in kingdoms and castles which is against what Jesus taught. They are greedy people in disguise or esle they would say "Let's go help the world". In the Bible there was a rich man who asked how to go to heaven. Jesus told him to leave his riches. These priests would never leave their riches which is what Jesus stated in the Bible. These are facts. Read the Bible and compare to what the religions do. As a former "Born Again Christian" I will share the truth to all about Religion. It is hope for the hopeless and a power tool for the wicked.
if you have a look MOST of the people who comment on the church's hypocricy are CATHOLIC or formerly so until the church horrifically committed an act on their family in some way. Here is a church who DEMONSTRATES lavish wealth all the while preaching against it for everyone ELSE and saying it's a SIN to worship money and effigies. You're messed up if you're so blind as to not see the incredible LIES the church perpetrates here. ME?: CATHOLIC by faith, but not by church.
Lavish Lifestyle? For what? Just how the hell are any of these men worthy of this type of lifestyle? What is this the middle ages? Remind me again of how they are following in Jesus' footsteps? Not only did they establish an earthly kingdom, and we know what Jesus said about that, look at the monsters they enabled, hid and protected....................and crimes against CHILDREN, no less! Oh,,, and about that Bank..........want to tell us all about that?
As a former Catholic, I find this life style absolutely discussing. Surrounded with gold and silver while he serves a religion that has millions of poor and starving people. The Papal 'king' is no more Christ like than most non-Christians I've known. A discussing and pitiful example of pious greed. And the Catholic church wonders why they are losing membership worldwide. I hope he enjoys his earthly existence, because he is going to have a lot of explaining to do afterwards.
St. Vincent de Paul... Catholic Social Services... Mother Theresa... yup, the Church is all about taking and never giving, huh?
By the way, you're going to have a lot of explaining to do when you stand before God, too.
Dogly, stop your frivolous attempts at a threat. 'when you stand before god'. Lol, like you know what's going to happen when you die. Quit being a fool.
A news article reported that The Vatican spent over $700,000 on a nativity display for St. Peter's Square. That's a lot of $$$! You'd think that $50,000 would buy a very nice nativity display, and then the other $650,000 could help people who might otherwise go hungry...
My church has a pleasant nativity scene and we set it up in front of the church every Christmas. The Vatican chooses to shell out huge amounts of money every year for a new nativity display. That seems wasteful to me, but I guess they have the money and don't mind flaunting it.
The treaty was with the facists, Mussalini was prime minister. It made them legitimate.
Ah well, happens to most religions in time--its really all a business if its around long enough. Preach one thing to the masses, but for the ones at the top, its a very compfy lifestyle. As for the Catholic Church, nuns in general live by the vows of poverty, chastity, and service. Just how many female cardinals are there--zero. Sure, there are nuns that gamble, steal, prey on kids in one way or another, and fool around with priests consentually(not counting the nuns who have and are forced into non-consentual relationships with priests.
If it hadn't been for Martin Luther and many good Catholics in general who knew of the great corruption of the Catholic Church during the late Middle Ages, there would not have been the Reformation (which in itself does the same thing--one rule for the masses and another rule for the men and few women at the top of the $$ pyrimid.
It sound like the worst parts of big business, mixed with the worst parts of government, with some religion sprinkled on top to generate some revenue.
You think that's crazy, the Obama's have spent that much on the last vacation. Aspen, golfing with Tiger in Florida, a "quick" flight to New York to "catch a show" and Martha's Vineyard but the media never portrays the American King like they do the Pope. No that would go against their "narrative"!
And how many vacations did Reagan, and his elitist wife Nancy, and other Repub presidents and their wives take? Save your 'lukewarm' sour grape vomit for the sore losers discussions. It doesn't belong anywhere else.
Luke, I have something for you to put into your mouth to shut you up, and will likely gag you.
Yeah, but President Obama's not prancing around claiming to be "Jesus's representative on Earth," now, either!
The bush, the reagan, the repuke prez's all have spent way more on vacations and time then the Obama's. I hope you know, luke you hypocrite.
Pony up this Sunday all of you Catholics. A little more Root of all evil is needed. The old pope needs some new Drag Queen wear, and the next round of lawsuits is right around the corner since he just excepted the resignation of that Cardinal over sex abuse claims. I hear that the church might start a 2% cash back program if you let you young boys spend a spiritual weekend at the Vatican. As you all say he is supposed to be infallible so if he wants your young boys it must be Gods will. I believe that God must be gay as man was made in his image. These Pervs. make Charles Manson and Jeffery Dalmer look like a pretty well adjusted bunch of guys.
By Zeus' beard! I find these "modern" religions very strange.
Ah the trapping of the rich and powerful. The Catholic Church needs to clean its house up. Shameful business.
All the Churches of the world need to clean their houses for they have become filthiest homes with greed and the lust for power. Shameful business when I look at all the Religions in the world.