Unfortunately these pension problems point out how few of the Cardinals in charge of Vatican finances actually believe in the teachings of the Catholic church. They know their Catechism better than I do, but have not taken it to heart and do not believe their transgressions will catch up to them. As a Catholic, I am both saddened and appalled. And I am not a good enough Christian to ask that God have mercy on their souls...
I did not bring up some non-financial stuff that has gotten me extremely angry that made me understand the concept: people who do not fear God.
I generally leave my comments like that at The Pillar (and I will just drop the name Rupnik, and if you know, you know, and if you don't, it's just as well. This is not something I need to get into here.)
Vatican employees have an important side benefit: access to the Vatican mega-mart (like a Walmart superstore). Employees pay no taxes on their purchases. As I understand it, this is to compensate for the lower Vatican pay rates for similar jobs in the private sector. I also expect employees get free parking on the Vatican grounds (yep, the Vatican has parking lots). There's a special employee-only subway station too (Rome's subway system is very limited). Note: When Pope John XXIII was asked by a reporter 'How many people work at the Vatican?', he replied: 'About half.'
Unfortunately these pension problems point out how few of the Cardinals in charge of Vatican finances actually believe in the teachings of the Catholic church. They know their Catechism better than I do, but have not taken it to heart and do not believe their transgressions will catch up to them. As a Catholic, I am both saddened and appalled. And I am not a good enough Christian to ask that God have mercy on their souls...
I did not bring up some non-financial stuff that has gotten me extremely angry that made me understand the concept: people who do not fear God.
I generally leave my comments like that at The Pillar (and I will just drop the name Rupnik, and if you know, you know, and if you don't, it's just as well. This is not something I need to get into here.)
Vatican employees have an important side benefit: access to the Vatican mega-mart (like a Walmart superstore). Employees pay no taxes on their purchases. As I understand it, this is to compensate for the lower Vatican pay rates for similar jobs in the private sector. I also expect employees get free parking on the Vatican grounds (yep, the Vatican has parking lots). There's a special employee-only subway station too (Rome's subway system is very limited). Note: When Pope John XXIII was asked by a reporter 'How many people work at the Vatican?', he replied: 'About half.'
Interesting.