Friday, October 5, 2007

Jesus Is Not A Fan

Here's another laughable business arrangement made by the Vatican. Football. Because the world's problems of poverty, AIDS, war, child slavery, etc. have all been solved! Vatican money can now go toward saving goals, rather than saving souls! My favorite line of this article is this one: "We want to bring some ethics back into the game, which has been undergoing a grave crisis in terms of sportsmanship." Grave crisis? The friggin' Catholic Church is in a grave crisis. Crisis is seeing Catholicism as a religion die out before ordaining women to be priests. Crisis is stopping the pedophile priests from abusing little parishioners. Football holds no "crises". A "crisis" in football might be about as worrisome as a cloudy day. I can convey nothing less than disgust at this ridiculous sham. Bring some ethics back to humanity before focusing on extracurricular activities that don't matter...like football. Get your priorities straight, oh most wise and holy Vatican. Before you know it, the priests stoles and robes will be replaced with jerseys covered with Coca-Cola and Tide logos. It is this type of severe lapse in judgement on the part of the Vatican that makes me sigh in relief that I am no longer affiliated with the Church. For shame!

Here is the article:

God squad buys club to tackle 'crisis' in football

Thursday October 04 2007 – The Daily Telegraph©

The Vatican has pledged to clean up Italian football after buying its own club. The Italian Bishop's Conference now has a controlling stake in AC Ancona, currently top of Italy's third division, after money was provided by a group of Catholic businessmen. Edoardo Menichelli, the Archbishop of Ancona, said the move would help bring more morality into football. "We want to bring some ethics back into the game, which has been undergoing a grave crisis in terms of sportsmanship,'' he said. The Vatican aims to introduce an ethical code which will punish Ancona's players for any foul play. Under the new owners, tickets for Ancona's home matches will drop in price, and all profits will go to projects in the Third World. Fans will be forbidden from taunting and insulting the opposition, and from unfurling offensive banners and flags. Ancona played in Italy's top division only four years ago, but were relegated after winning just 13 points. The club also reached the final of the Italian Cup in 2004, but lost to Sampdoria. However, it was deeply involved in the Calciopoli bribes scandal of two seasons ago. Its former president, Ermanno Pieroni, was sentenced to 53 days in jail. The team will have an audience with Pope Benedict XVI after the final deal is signed on October 10. Andrea Staffolani, a 24-year-old striker, said: "We have not been told all the details about the new ethical code, but we like what we have read so far. "For example, the idea that if we get sent off we have to do voluntary work. "We've been talking about it in the dressing room, and we are ready to do it. "The team has played well and fairly on the pitch until now anyway, and we hope to keep it that way. "We cannot wait to meet the Pope. All of us are delighted, believers and non-believers.'' Eighty per cent of the club will be controlled by the bishops, leaving 20pc to the former president Sergio Schiavoni. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, is a fanatical football fan and has openly spoken about his ambition to create a football team of priests.

2 comments:

Timothy said...

Greetings!

I don't see how the Vatican is doing anything related to football. The agency is the Italian Bishops Conference and not the Vatican itself. The money came from private individuals and not the Vatican.

>"Crisis is seeing Catholicism as a religion die out before ordaining women to be priests."

Catholicism as a religion is anything but dying out. The faith is still increasing worldwide by 12-15 million each and every year. There may be some regional fluctuation in your area, however.

Ordaining women will never happen as the Church lacks authority to ordain women.

>" As a Recovering Catholic,..."

I'm glad to read the you are a Recovering Catholic. Even though you have been out of the Church for 28 years, Its nice to know that you are recovering your Catholic faith. Thousands are rediscovering their Catholic faith and re-entering the Church. We'll keep you in our prayers.

God bless...

SM said...

Actually, Timothy, I have just left the Church after being in the Church for 29 years. I am 29 years old. I am a recovering Catholic in the same way an Alocholic recovers from a destructive addiction.

If I am incorrect, the Italian Bishops are essentially under the authority of the Vatican itself, correct? Thereby their actions are indirectly approved by the Vatican as that is the final authority on such permissions.

What do you mean the Church lacks authority to ordain women as priests? It was the idea of the Church (i.e. as a group of men) that only men can be priests. Show me a direct quote from Jesus that states that women are unworthy to serve mass as priests.