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Impassioned sermon condemned corruption from
those who donated to the church but stole from the state
By HEATHER SAUL
Pope Francis delivered an
impassioned sermon yesterday, during which he quoted a passage from the bible
that said some sinners deserve to be tied to a rock and cast into the sea.
The Argentinian religious leader said
Christians who donated money to the church but stole from the state were
leading a "double life"
and were sinners who should be punished.
Quoting from the Gospel
of St Luke in the New Testament, he said: “Jesus says 'It would be better for
him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea',”
because "where there is deceit, the Spirit of God cannot be".
Without directly
mentioning corruption within the Catholic Church, in his sermon he described
those involved in corrupt practices as “whitewashed tombs”, explaining that
“they appear beautiful from the outside, but inside they are full of dead bones
and putrefaction.” He said: "A life based on corruption is varnished
putrefaction.”
His sermon came during
his daily morning Mass inside Casa Santa Marta, the guest house he has lived in
since being elected pontiff in March.
On Friday, he also
condemned corruption, asserting parents who earned through bribes or corrupt
practices had "lost their dignity", and fed their children
"unclean bread".
He said: "Some of
you might say: 'But this man only did what everyone does!'. But no, not
everyone! Some company administrators, some public administrators, some
government administrators… perhaps there are not even very many. But it’s that
attitude of the shortcut, of the most comfortable way to earn a living.
"These poor people
who have lost their dignity in the habit of bribes take with them not the money
they have earned, but only their lack of dignity!"
He compared receiving
bribes as "like a drug" as people become "dependent"
on the habit of bribes.
The Pope has made clear
his intentions to tackle corruption within the Vatican and held a meeting with
the Church's highest ranking whistleblower in October, after telling the
Church in May that it “must go forward... with a heart of poverty, not a heart
of investment or of a businessman” reminding it that "St Peter did not
have a bank account”.
·
Culled
From The Independent
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