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Pope excommunicates Italian mobsters

danarhea said:
Look out, folks. The Pope is gonna get whacked. But seriously, this has been a long time coming. Kudos to Pope Francis.

Article is here.
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It would be a whole lot more meaningful if he excommunicated all the pedophiles and those within the church that aided and abetted them. As well as the bishops that filed bankruptcy so their precious archdioceses' wouldn't have their assets seized.

Until then, yawn...
 
jmotivator said:
Excommunication does sever them from the Church and the Church sacraments. It's hard for people without a religion to understand, or even non-Catholics to understand, but this announcement has the potential to be a hammer blow to the Mafia. So much of their culture is tied to their Catholicism and their erroneous belief in salvation through support of the Church. The Pope just erased this misconception in one definitive statement.

The hard core mafia will just gravitate to Evangelical Churches that teach that believing in Christ is all you need for salvation. ;)
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This will be meaningful when the Pope gives the billions received from the people he is turning his back on. How much of the Vatican wealth comes from crooks? Lets see the Vatican disgorge this wealth as a sign of good faith.
 
Top Cat said:
It would be a whole lot more meaningful if he excommunicated all the pedophiles and those within the church that aided and abetted them. As well as the bishops that filed bankruptcy so their precious archdioceses' wouldn't have their assets seized.

Until then, yawn...
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You can't excommunicate a group of people when you have no idea who they are to begin with. He's a new pope and I doubt he's privy to many of the details of child abuse. I for one want to give him the benefit of the doubt and wait for that type of issue to come up. The pope is dealing with things in terms of priorities. The many - still in litigation status - cases of child abuse aren't probably as pressing as the very real and historical problems the mob has caused in Italy.
 
Hatuey said:
You can't excommunicate a group of people when you have no idea who they are to begin with. He's a new pope and I doubt he's privy to many of the details of child abuse. I for one want to give him the benefit of the doubt and wait for that type of issue to come up. The pope is dealing with things in terms of priorities. The many - still in litigation status - cases of child abuse aren't probably as pressing as the very real and historical problems the mob has caused in Italy.
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Honestly, you're simply making meaningless excuses. There are many pedophiles that are known. There are many bishops that are known and there are many people within the church that are known to have aided and abetted. Your contentions are nonsense.
 
washunut said:
This will be meaningful when the Pope gives the billions received from the people he is turning his back on. How much of the Vatican wealth comes from crooks? Lets see the Vatican disgorge this wealth as a sign of good faith.
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Catholic Charities is the largest charitable organization in the world.
 
jmotivator said:
Catholic Charities is the largest charitable organization in the world.
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Would it be if not for the gifts from their worldwide Mafia patrons???
 
All major religions are, IMO, a COMPLETE and TOTAL waste of time...but I really like this Pope.
 
jmotivator said:
A mere 500 years too late.
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No, the practice persists to this day.

VARIOUS GRANTS

The bulk of the Enchiridion is a listing of indulgenced prayers and acts. First come three "general grants."

The first says "a partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who, in the performance of their duties and in bearing the trials of life, raise their mind with humble confidence to God, adding -- even if only mentally-- some pious invocation." It is noted that this grant "is intended to serve as an incentive to the faithful to practice the commandment of Christ that `they must always pray and not lose heart'" (Luke 18:1)

The second general grant is this: "A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who, in a spirit of faith and mercy, give of themselves or of their goods to serve their brothers in need." This grant "is intended to serve as an incentive to the faithful to perform more frequent acts of charity and mercy," as Christ commanded (John 13:15, Acts 10:38).

The third general grant provides that "a partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who, in a spirit of penance, voluntarily deprive them-selves of what is licit and pleasing to them." This provision is meant "to move the faithful to bridle their passions and thus to bring to their bodies into subjection and to conform themselves to Christ in his poverty and suffering" (Matt 8:20, Matt 16:24).
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Introduction to Indulgences - Prayers - Catholic Online
 
clownboy said:
No, the practice persists to this day.

Introduction to Indulgences - Prayers - Catholic Online
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That's not the kind of indulgences you are talking about. Catholicism has always been about acts as an path to salvation. Modern indulgences are not about paying off the Church, they're about prayer and denial of self, as your quote shows.

But I do see how it could be that a lot of Mafia members may have seen their dedication to the church as an indulgence. The Pope put an end to that fantasy.
 
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