(Pope Francis dolls are displayed at the World Meeting of Families souvenir store on Sept. 22 ahead of the Pope's visit to Philadelphia. Matt Rourke / AP)
Good Day World!
Warning: if you’re a thin-skinned devout Catholic with no sense of humor or history don’t read this post!
As far as I can tell Jesus was poor.
Yet Roman Catholicism, which claims to be His church, is the richest of the rich, the wealthiest institution on earth.
Money flows in from individual donations from Catholics, government grants, the church's own investments and corporate donors.
Oh yeah…and from souvenirs of Pope Francis. The time-honored tradition of shilling for the church has been passed down from Pope to Pope for hundreds of years.
As you probably know, Pope Francis is doing the America gig right now. There’s been sightings in Philadelphia and Washington DC.
Really popular at the venues where Pope Francis is visiting are bobbleheads, life-size cutouts, rosaries, scarves, and ties with his likeness on it. Kind of like a superstar. Or, a professional athlete.
Bleacher Creatures is selling the papal "plushy" on their website, in case you can't get to one of the many venues in person. The site has sold over 50,000 pontiff dolls in five months, outstripping every other doll on the site.
All this pomp and business seems out of touch with Christ’s teaching. Can you imagine if he walked into one of the many palatial Catholic churches today? Or, the Vatican?
Better yet, what if Jesus returned today and asked for a dozen pontiff dolls for his disciples! NOT going to happen.
Time for me to walk on down the road…
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