While we were raised Catholics, I think I can safely speak for my brother Hackwhacker and myself in saying that we have... significant reservations about the conservative hierarchy of the Church, dating back, oh, at least a millennium -- the brief, shining moment that was the Papacy of John XXIII notwithstanding. Perhaps some of this has to do with its history (the Inquisition, alleged collusion with Fascists and Nazis, pedophilia, etc.) and some with its orthodoxy (birth control, a woman's right to choose, gay rights, AIDs in the developing world, etc.). In recent years, the American Catholic Church has often worked hand-in-glove with the Rethuglican Party, as the Tweedledee and Tweedledumb of reactionary policies. This has often happened through the auspices of the "Catholic League," a barely disguised front group for the Rethuglicans.
You must permit us a little sigh of satisfaction, then, with the news that the Italian financial police have seized $30 million in assets from the Vatican's bank account and is investigating several top bank officials in connection with a money-laundering probe. We wonder what the penance is for that? Three Hail Marys, two Our Fathers, and 10 years in prison?
(Photo: "Ciao, baby!")
