Vatican “on the brink of Bankruptcy” due to dramatic decline in donations
1y 5mon ago by ponder.cat/u/PhilipTheBucket in globalnews@lemmy.zip from www.irishstar.com
It’s cool, he ain’t playing it right anyway. He won’t get famous and change the world the way he’s doing it.
It's really hard to do without opposable thumbs!
Maybe if you had four arms you'd hold it different too! Leave Tardiboi alone!
Oh shiiiiiii
This is amazing, it took me a few seconds to realize that is a very tiny violin.
It’s from an electron microscope and was made via lithography IIRC
Does it give a close look at peoples choices?
Good for them, I guess?
"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
I was expecting this exact quote. Never fails to put a smile on my face.
But, but The eye of a needle was a market with a small gate and if you only had a reasonable load on your camels then they could pass through so it's actually ok for rich people to exist /s
That cope from Conservative Christians™️ is always funny. Similar statements show up in the Talmud. A large animal passing through the eye of a needle was a common idiom in Jewish culture at the time to demonstrate impossibility.
I wish they had just said, “look bro, I don’t even need an idiom. I’m just going to tell you. If you’re rich, you’re going to Hell. You can’t exploit people and hoard resources and be in God’s good graces at the same time. Just being rich means that you’re ok walking by misery and not helping. Bro, you can’t have it like that.”
You'd still have wealthy Christians being like "okay, but what did Jesus mean by this?"
You’re absolutely right haha.
“I flicked a nickel to a hobo today. Streets uh’ gode!”
It's a mistranslation of "sturdy rope", which indeed would not pass through the eye of a needle.
"Another coin in the coffer rings, another soul into heaven springs."
Perhaps they should sell off some of the tons and tons of gold stuff they have.
There's a whole crypt of nicely dressed absolutely dead people who most certainly don't need to be wearing rubies and gold and diamonds all over their bones.
That needle must have a pretty big eye
No, just microscopic camels.
Maybe they should put their bones in a museum for profit? Come see Saint (whomever)
We do it all the time with brown peoples bones. Why not pope's bones?
Or their huge amounts of foreign land
Like huge… tracts of land?
Paying out legal claims and bribes from all the sexual abuse scandals are not cheap.
Naw, they just move all the assets out of the diocese and declare bankruptcy.
Child rape. They're broke from paying for unimaginable amounts of child rape.
Indeed. I'm sorry if it felt like I was minimizing the damage caused.
No! Not at you! Just, in general. We should make a point of calling a spade. Euphemism is dangerous.
Bullshit. They own more land than damn near any other entity on the planet. The whole celibacy thing was so the priest could not take the church owning and give them to non-church kids.
Hurting for money? Sell some land. Then pay for the abuse lawsuits some more.
Heaven Less Opulent Than Vatican, Reports Disappointed Pope
https://theonion.com/heaven-less-opulent-than-vatican-reports-disappointed-1819567798/
Exactly plus the millions in treasure they have under the Vatican.
How about all those hospitals? Sell them to local owners, force them to be non profit and pay off the resale victims the Vatican created.
Good
Just pray. If your God is the creator of the universe, it's pretty likely he can handle the situation once you let him know.
Dont forget the thoughts.
Except they have billions in stolen art and could liquidate it at any point. If not trillions, actually.
Nobody knows exactly what Vatican has but Porphyry Basin in the Vatican Museum is estimated to be worth 2$ billion alone (it was commissioned by Emperor Nero).
Vatican could literally end the world hunger with their treasure hoard.
Vatican could literally end the world hunger with their treasure hoard.
No they couldn’t. They’d end up making a bunch of warlords into billionaires while the regular people would go on starving. The only way to end world hunger is grassroots economic development and education (especially for women). You can’t do that by dumping billions of dollars into those countries. The problem is very tricky and the work is long and arduous.
It’s not getting to the people who need it because [CHOMP] it’s being intercepted by warlords!
he is right though. Don't know why making fun of him was required to make an ass of yourself.
Why would they want to end world hunger? What could motivate them to do so?
Hmm...
Their art collection is so massive, containing such crazy rare items, many cannot have a price tag as they are literally priceless. It's impossible to calculate its value due to the extreme rarity, or because anything like it to compare it's value to is also in the Vatican collection.
When they sell 1 priceless art item, they can sustain themselves for a year. They have hundreds of thousands of those items, if not millions.
Saying the Vatican goes bankrupt sounds like "Elon Musk struggles to pay for his groceries".
Sounds to me their massive stream of money is declining and they want to scare people into giving them more money.
Though if the idea that high value art is actually a money laundering/moving scheme is true, this might not be the case. The idea is that no one or few people actually want to spend millions on art but pretend they do as a front to spend millions on something else.
They could probably save some money by reducing the "cover up pedophile priests" item in their budget.
The collection of the Vatican doesn't consist of weird modern art paintings but of historical important pieces. Private art collections of Roman emperors, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Rodin, etc. Not some fake money laundering value because some Chinese tech CEO spent way too much money on it but true historic value backed by scientific research and historic manuscripts, which hold value on their own. Any museum would sell children's organs to be able to get their hands on a single piece. I've been to the Vatican myself, I've seen one single wing of many, completely filled with the most impressive art pieces, stacked together like they don't have enough room to store everything properly. The British museum is innocent compared to the amount of stolen priceless art pieces the Vatican has.
And they they are on the brink of bankruptcy, because "people aren't giving them enough money anymore"... "Because of the current pope". I guess for the first time we have a pope doing something right.
A corporation which thrives on one source of income alone: gifts. And now the infinite money stream is declining. What was it, Christians say when bad shit happens... Ah yes, I remember, "God works in mysterious ways". Or translated for people who do not believe in imaginary friends and fairytales: shut up and deal with it.
good, time to disband that pedo-clown organisation
Those grifters have had a good run for two millenia. As scams go, I'd say it was pretty successful - and still is, sadly.
One the planets largest landlords going bankrupt? I imagine they can cover the spread and still dress like trans-wizards until the lord returns.
Since that fable will never become reality, probably not.
Regardless they can probably sell some shit and cover their debts
They’ve been doing that. I know of quite a bit of land owned by the church that they’ve sold around me.
"Man who lives in a golden palace complains about money troubles. "
Sounds like any billionaire when tax collectors visit.
Good, because if they expect bills this means they are finally being held responsible for something
If only we could all live in our own personal "country".
I'm sure if they switched from molesting kids they could make some money jerking off grown men
And those soft ass priest hands must feel amazing. I’ll line up for one of the Father Jackoffski specials right away.
One gentleman’s latte, extra foam, please.
Well it's a good thing they have all that priceless art they can sell...
They could always start selling indulgences again!
In fact, they could even expand beyond the traditional Catholic market. Even Muslims get into Catholic heaven if they're willing to cut a big enough check! Maybe you can get some atheist billionaire to buy a $1 billion "just in case" indulgence.
They don't need to sell anything. They're sitting on the horde of Rome's wealth along with all the nazi gold the church took in during WWII. They have the wealth to easily pay their debts but would rather enter into bankruptcy than actually pay them.
I see a business opportunity here, who knows how to code a website 🤑😋?
Do museums actually do that?
Are these bastards really thinking we are going to believe their mafia like enterprise is supported by charitable donations?
Probably the best news I've read so far today.
Sell your fucking chair, you clown.
Pope Francis got rid of that already, some 10 years ago.
I haven't seen him on that chair since, but I'm sure it's somewhere collecting dust.
Not sitting on it =/= getting rid of it
Thoughts and prayers!
Irish Star is as reliable as Alex Jones.
The Catholic Church remains one of the world's wealthiest organizations.
You can have a high net worth and go through bankruptcy.
The number of people who don't understand the difference between cash flow and assets astounds me.
Have they tried NOT having Sex with Kids?
That part was fine. According to the article, what's causing the issue is that Pope Francis said they should help the poor and that climate change is real, and all their scattered asshole donation-makers in all corners of the world got butthurt and turned down the money faucet.
How dare the Catholic Church be a force for good!
You know that American Catholics are like a tiny portion of the worldwide church right?
Whoa whoa let's not get carried away. That's a load bearing pillar of the church pal
Anyone think this is some independently verified fact?
THEY’RE CLAIMING THIS TO GET OUT OF PAYING ALL THE LAWSUITS they get because of all the r4pe & 4bus3 of little children
You can say rape and abuse
But me triggered from reading a word!
At that point avoiding using those words entirely seems like a better way. Could have just stopped at lawsuits. The rest is implied and considering the source most people are very aware.
It is a cowardly act to not use words when they are useable and applicable, especially when discussing heinous actions. To not is to brush such actions under the rug.
And plenty of people are cowards.
But then they wouldn't get to talk in 1337speak like a cool cyberpunk hacker.
Ah yes, all those cool hackers back from the faraway times of the early 2000's. I distinctly remember attempting to not use any letters at all, but throw the entire suite of symbols out there in hopes I was leet enough.
Just as they can choose not to. That's the beauty of free will.
Just sell some real estate…. They’ll be fine.
In related news:
Aww geez, our 1500 year old grift isn’t working as well as it used to, sad!
Isn’t it more like around 2025 year old?
What little concessions they made to progressives was far too little too late while former popes sided with child abusers and rapists.
The joke is that Francis was still too far left for the big money Opus Dei Catholics in The United States and Europe.
They weren't friendly enough to the rapists. That's why the donations are drying up
Or maybe it's because people can't afford to donate money when they can barely afford rent and groceries
The Catholic Church isn't getting the bulk of its money from lay voters. Their influence is rooted in the large, wealthy communities of the old money aristocracy and newer money financial sectors. Big donations have historically granted members an elevated role in the civilian side of the church. And churches are highly influential in promoting business relationships and political careers.
Of late, the American branch of the Catholic Church - historically a huge contributor to the Vatican directly and to foreign missions internationally - has cultivated a very far-right orientation within its political wing. You can see that in the conversion of current VP-elect JD Vance to Catholicism back in 2019. This, along with far-right catholic politicians like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and Jim Risch having increasing influence over US foreign policy. And the elevation of a slew of Catholic SCOTUS judges - Chief Justice John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett - five of the last eight seated over twenty years.
These political leaders and the big financial interests that back them (US Bancorp, Bank of America, and Fidelity Investments most notably) are all historical Catholic Church mega-donors. The Catholic Church runs some of the biggest charities in the US (and the world). And diversion of funds from "Peter's Pence" (donations directly to the Vatican) to regional church organizations administered by Americans with loyalty to their right-wing local parties, is what's cutting into the available funds.
Report: Catholic charitable giving (and the church) are moving to the Southwest, July 2023
Last year, just under half of all Fidelity Charitable donors (48 percent) directed grants to religious houses of worship, the report found, down two points from three years earlier. A closer examination of the report reveals which nonprofits receive support, and Catholic organizations, which include dioceses as well as human services organizations with church ties, continue to rank among the top beneficiaries of support in many U.S. cities.
...
According to the National Philanthropic Trust, nearly $46 billion was dispersed from donor-advised funds in the United States in 2021. That is a massive increase from just nine years earlier, when about $8.5 billion was given to charities from these funds.
The Catholic organizations - particularly in the US - are not running out of cash. The Vatican is running out of cash.
Probably because they didn't get to vote in the pope. eyeroll
Martin Luther has entered the chat
Of course people are blaming him being too accepting of trans people, his view of "let them survive but they're sinners unwelcome to the eucharist" is unfortunately far too progressive for some.
Fortunately the church of Jesus of Nazareth will prioritize profit over peace and love
The idea of the pope marginalizing a group because they’re sinners is pretty sad, given he has dedicated his life to teaching that literally every ordinary human is a sinner. Among other things.
Then that being too progressive for Joe Catholic is even more sad.
Unfortunately, what it is NOT is surprising. White Catholic family here. They dehumanize just as well as the rest of the conservatives.
I haven’t followed any of that news. Sounds like some fun reading I’ll have to catch up on!
Hahahah yeah 'cos the Church just loooves that shit
Time to start selling Indulgences again.
Have they tried institutionally raping children and covering it up for decades if not centuries?
Oh, they have... Darn.
Please, that's just a side hustle
- LET
- THEM
- EAT
- CAKE
Gods plan
Oh, no. Guess they'll have to sell some of those golden trinkets they have
Good
I wish.
Doubt they’ll even have to sell a diocese.
Even if this is true, 2025 is a jubilee year. There will be so many pilgrims to the Vatican and donations would skyrocket
The Pope should just issue a Papal Bull that God has forgiven the Vatican's debts. And their creditors won't be able to argue, as he's literally infallible.
Now there’s a political crisis that would be fun to watch unfold!
I’m tired of all this current stuff that seems to destroy lives as it unfolds.
Can we get a good old fashioned pope/antipope fight while we're at it? Two claimants to the throne of St. Peter, and the first act of each is to excommunicate the other!
Maybe donating and praying to your favorite imaginary sky buddy doesn't actually solve anything.
I wonder how that can be. The Catholic Church owns real estate in almost every city in Europe, usually several buildings in larger cities, often in prime locations. Especially since these properties are only a fraction of the church's financial assets, the rental income alone should be enough to finance the church for all eternity.
Organizations that own that amount of stuff borrow against it to buy even more stuff and as it all goes up in value they borrow more and buy more stuff. In an endless loop. And people call crypto a scam 🤔
Owning that much in assets typically means you also have a lot of debt. Particularly with generational, wealthy, corrupt organizations.
Point being, they can be on the brink of bankruptcy even when owning half of Europe if they can’t service the debt they wound up.
Well, they can always get back to selling indulgences again or take out (another) mortgage on their state in the middle of Rome when the going gets tough.
If there are physical assets to back up the loans, doesn't that make it less of a scam than crypto.
Maybe not a good business strategy, and maybe the loans outweigh the "true" value of the assets, but there is something backing it.
They can be broke or rich depending on how they feel that day. They cook the books because they're their own country. They are truly a gang operation. My guess is they want you talking about them being broke as opposed to them being caught with more priests molesting children today.
AG report details abuse allegations against 52 priests, deacons in Diocese of Lansing
Yeah the church is rich af, just sell some of your gold you fucking parasites.
I'm going to need a really, /really/ small violin.
Nice
Maybe they can save some money by protecting fewer pedos?
I'd suggest trying to have fewer pedos in the first place.
Sell some of that gold they've bought and or stolen in the last millenia or two.
Bullshit.
It could be. I haven't heard of the Irish Star. I couldn't decide whether it was bullshit propaganda designed to sound Pope Francis sound like a problem, bullshit propaganda designed to attract clicks and nothing else, truth presented with the goal of making Pope Francis sound like a problem, or what really happened. I decided to post it and stop worrying about it.
Being owned by Reach plc is definitely not a reassuring sign of credibility. Highlights of other news outlets they own include the Daily Star straight up inventing an interview with Dwayne Johnson in 2019, the Daily Express having such a bizarre obsession with Princess Diana that they still pt her name in the headlines about once a week to this day, and the Daily Mirror seemingly doing its "journalism" primarily by the method of hacking into celebrities' personal voicemails throughout most of the 00s
Could this really be? After nearly two thousands years of Catholic Church they are finally brought to their knees.
Like so many altar boys.
Eh they're quite short so there's no need for them to kneel
something about rich man in the kingdom of heaven right?
But God needs more money! C'mon everybody chip in, he needs his moneeeey!
I am an agnostic so my opinion might not be worth anything to Christians (or Catholics specifically), but I don't really see the point in organized church structures. If you believe in God, support his ideals, why do you need to go to church anyway, or at least why would you want your local church support some big hierarchy (often with controversial opinions or actions) for your money?
Same reason people go to comicons or music concerts or protests. People just want to be with others who believe in and like the same things as they do. It's a pretty simple and basic human behavior.
It's been a long while since I was involved in a church, but my recollection of the Bible isn't able to reference anything that implies there is a need for the hierarchy associated with the Catholic Church, or similar. It kind of says you can have a personal relationship with God, and I don't recall anything about Mary being special in any way aside from giving birth to the so called Messiah.
"Faith without works is dead."
Because part of the rules of any cult is to isolate yourself with other cult members. Christianity is no different.
What? BS.
Yeah wtf the Catholic Church in my country alone holds hundreds of billions in assets and investments.
Thoughts and prayers.
Wait, nope, fresh out.
Can all the nations they stole artifacts and trinkets from get them back when they declare bankruptcy? /s
Why is there a sarcasm? It's a legit question.
It's probably asked sarcastically because they know it would never happen.
Correct!
They might need to auction off one of those reptilian skeletons they have in the secret basement.
Nawww poor little pedophiles.
I'm sure God will save them .... by wiring them a few billion dollars
Bootstraps bitches. Pull em up!
lol
Too busy donating to Trump
source?
It was revealed to me in a dream
Poor you, I hope you don't have nightmares tonight.
...?
lol
Looks like indulgences are back on the menu, boys!
Pfffft... Yeah right.
Maybe they can set up a loops server and just do remote mass shorts? They'll have to jump for jebus with different dresses.
I guess those tithes just aren't paying.
Is the Vatican for sale?
It's like watching the country collapse, i guess.
Yes actually.
Good riddance to bad garbage.
Start selling off your nazi gold.
Oh, they are opting for "The Big Lie".
IIRC s friend of theirs coined the expression too!
Maybe Elon Musk will suddenly get religion and bail them out.
Best news I’ve heard in a while
Why are they in debt in the first place? Be a church, not a corporation.
Oh, pedo funding ran out. Now pedos come to various dictatorships asking for money. Say, Azerbaijan, that'd be those guys who have demolished probably more Christian heritage than ISIS.
BTW, my paternal line is Armenian Catholic from Khodorchur of Dayq province, so I do feel bad about them falling so low, but really nothing one can fix. Just let that thing die.