Pope Says Financial Reforms Are Working, Wants Anti-Nuke Stance in Catechism

Crux ^ | 11/27/19 | Ines San Martin

[marshmallow]

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE - Pope Francis said Tuesday that the latest round of financial scandal at the Vatican is actually a success story, because the situation was revealed thanks to an internal Vatican probe, which he said demonstrates that new controls are working.

The pontiff also called both owning and deploying nuclear weapons “immoral,” saying that point should be added to the Catholic catechism, and suggested that it might be time to re-think the veto power wielded by a handful of countries in the United Nations Security Council.

His comments came during an airborne news conference on the return flight to Rome from his Nov. 19-26 trip to Thailand and Japan.

Vatican financial scandals

“There is corruption,” Francis conceded when asked about a recent scandal pivoting on the purchase of a former Harrod’s warehouse in London’s tony Chelsea neighborhood by the Vatican’s Secretary of State, using funds from the annual “Peter’s Pence” collection presented as a way to support papal charities.

Initially around $220 million was spent acquiring a share of the property, and later the Secretariat of State attempted to lay out another $170 million to buy it outright. According to the Italian magazine L’Espresso, the Vatican was overcharged for the operation by several Italian middlemen.

Five Vatican employees were suspended following a raid by the Vatican gendarmes on Oct. 1 of their offices, including members of the Secretariat of State and the director of the Vatican’s Financial Authority (AIF). Two weeks later, Domenico Giani, the Vatican’s longtime security chief and Francis’s personal bodyguard, resigned over the leak of the document related to a magistrate’s investigation of the deal.

During the hour-long press conference, Francis said that the five Vatican officials suspected of corruption will soon be questioned by the promoter of justice, if the process hasn’t actually started......

[BipolarBob]

I’m trying to keep up with the changes but he lost me with the “save the whales” as part of the Catechism.

[laplata]

He’s Communist/Globalist Social Engineer. Not a Pope.

[twister881]

Bergoglio leads the low IQ wing of the body Catholic.

[Mark17]

😁👍

[piasa]

Harrods, eh?

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Maybe he should pay more attention to things within his job description.

[Shark24]

Oh my Jesus, forgives our sins....

[GreyFriar]

What about “save baby Harp Seals” and ‘don’t kill the sacred Snail Darter’?

[BipolarBob]

Like I say, just stay tuned for more musings from Frankie. He won't steer you wrong.

/sarc

[laplata]

A very conservative Catholic I know told me that most Liberal Catholics love this “Pope”. She is disgusted.

[ealgeone]

Didn’t Paul and the apostles rail against this????

[livius]

This power mad fool seems to believe that the catechism is a way of unilaterally changing doctrine. It’s not. It’s just a compendium of established doctrine, not whatever the Pope of the moment wants to stick in there.

[ScottinVA]

Stay the F out of politics, Frannie. It’s not your lane, boy.

[piasa]

This Harrods?

Al Fayed quizzed over ‘sexual assault’ on a girl under age 16
10/22/2008, 8:37:50 PM · by Righting · 4 replies · 505+ views
yahoonews ^ | 10,2008
Al Fayed quizzed over ‘sexual assault’ Oct 22, 2008 Mohamed al Fayed has been interviewed under caution in connection with an allegation of sexual assault against a girl aged under 16. Skip related content Related photos / videosAl Fayed quizzed over Video: Al Fayed quizzed over ‘sexual assault’ The Harrods owner voluntarily went to a police station in west London to answer questions about the alleged incident in May. His spokeswoman Katharine Witty said he vehemently denies the allegation and is confident his name will be cleared. She added: “We confirm that Mohamed al Fayed today voluntarily attended an interview...

[piasa]

Speaking of Harrod’s...

Who was Dodi Al Fayed? Princess Diana’s lover who died in ...
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4118125
Sep 01, 2018 · The oldest son of former Harrods owner and billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, Dodi was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1955. His mother was Samira Khashoggi - sister of Saudi Arabian-born billionaire arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi - and his dad also …

[piasa]

Sheesh... In the Sunday Telegraph dated 5th May 2002, a ridiculous story appeared suggesting that I [al Fayed] was in some way connected with an alleged plot to smuggle uranium. I have issued the following press release to express my concerns: 5th May 2002
MOHAMED AL FAYED AND THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
Mohamed Al Fayed is to take immediate legal action following a damaging article published in today's edition of The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
The Harrods owner had made clear to the newspaper prior to publication that their story, which is widely believed to be based on a hoax, was malicious and without substance. The Sunday Telegraph nonetheless still published a very prominent story which implied strongly that he was linked to shadowy figures allegedly involved in a plot to smuggle uranium.
"This is a scandalous, outrageous, fraudulent, and blatantly false attack on me", he said.
"My spokesman made it clear to the Sunday Telegraph that I knew nothing of this matter or any of the people involved and that the allegations against me were wholly spurious. Yet the newspaper still gave prominence to the story using my picture in front of a stockpile of uranium and suggesting that I did know something of the supposed scandal.
"I cannot understand how any newspaper could believe a story like this without any substance and give it such prominence. "This is the latest in a campaign of deliberate smears against me orchestrated by the security services through this particular paper after I accused them of involvement in the murder of my son Dodi and Princess Diana.
"The Sunday Telegraph, whose editor Dominic Lawson I have frequently accused of being an MI6 stooge and closely related to the security services through his brother-in-law, has been the leading vehicle for this campaign."
"The publication of this malicious hoax shows that their campaign which, since the Paris tragedy, has involved the publication of literally hundreds of false stories, continues unabated. They continue to have no regard for the truth, fairness or decency."
The story, which refers to a mystery fax allegedly sent to Mr Al Fayed, was first published last weekend in the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. That newspaper has already published a letter of correction from Mr Al Fayed stating that he had never received any such fax and had no knowledge of it, but will face further legal action this week which could result in substantial damages.
A Portuguese newspaper which repeated the story is facing similar action.
11 posted on 11/30/2003, 12:40:37 AM by general_re

[Fedora]

Didn't know Harrod's had a Vatican or Khashoggi connection. I see a company called Grolux Investments serves as the Vatican's front in this racket, in turn linking to JP Morgan in New York and back to Profima in Switzerland.

So much for financial reforms working. As far as adding an anti-nuke stance to the catechism, a generic opposition to nuclear proliferation that reflects Soviet propaganda against John Foster Dulles's massive retaliation policy is already in there (2315, 2329)--as if nuclear debates were locked in the 1950s--but Bergolio goes a step beyond this to propose an absolute ban as he did with capital punishment, once again confusing his ill-informed opinions on prudential matters with doctrine. One has to wonder if he ever actually read the catechism when he wasn't busy uncritically swallowing liberation theology.

[piasa]

The Biden admin today launched an attack in Syria supposedly against Iran, while their other hand, the admin is making moves to embarass the Saudis over the issue of Kashoggi’s death. The Dems sure are fixated on Kashoggi.

[Fedora]

The Khashoggi assassination also involved Turkey, which figures into Biden’s Middle East agenda:

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/21/erdogan-turkeys-common-interests-with-us-outweigh-differences

Erdogan: Turkey’s common interests with US outweigh differences

02/21/2021

Turkish president seeks improvement in ties between the two NATO allies that have been strained over a host of issues.

. . .

Turkey has said it wants improved ties under US President Joe Biden, but has called on Washington to end its support for the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, and accused it of siding with fighters who it says executed 13 Turks in northern Iraq this month.

Ankara has been infuriated by US support for the Kurdish fighters in Syria, whom it considers “terrorists”.

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https://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/columns/end-of-orb-alliance-a-change-in-turkey-gulf-ties
02/24/2021

A new status quo has since emerged, as Joe Biden replaced Donald Trump as U.S. president. The Biden administration and, more broadly, the Democrats have a different view of the Middle East than the country’s previous leader.

Biden actively seeks to relaunch nuclear talks with Iran, which currently negotiates the framework for dialogue with Washington. That bargain, without a doubt, hurts the Gulf’s interests.

Indeed, the U.S. has already halted its military assistance to Saudi Arabia for the war in Yemen.

Moreover, Biden waited a whole month before speaking with Netanyahu – which, experts say, suggests that the U.S. administration will give Israel the cold shoulder.

Finally, the White House issued an interesting statement, saying that Biden’s counterpart in Riyadh was King Salman, as opposed to MBS. Those remarks are widely believed to suggest that Washington intends to sideline the princes.

The Gulf states, accurately interpreting the changing status quo, are slowly revising their regional policy. In response to Biden’s victory, they immediately moved to de-escalate tensions with Qatar and lift the blockade.

There is every reason to believe that similar steps will follow.

Their next move will presumably involve normalization with Turkey. As a matter of fact, certain signs are already there.

In recent days, the Turkish and Emirati ministers of science mentioned each other on Twitter as a token of goodwill. It was the first contact between the two countries after a long time – and, possibly, a discreet gesture intended to lay the groundwork for normalization.

For the record, it would have been possible to claim, even in the absence of the aforementioned tweets, that the bilateral relationship was on the brink of improvement.

At the end of the day, states are rational actors and their actions are informed by their interests. The new status quo encourages Turkey and the Gulf states to normalize their relations.

What that means for the region – and what geopolitical developments it may entail – will be the subject of my next column.

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