Ö÷²¥´óÐã

« Previous | Main | Next »

God is not dead, but capitalism is

Post categories: ,Ìý

William Crawley | 08:21 UK time, Tuesday, 6 January 2009

news-graphics-2008-_441083a.jpgThat's according to the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor.

Is it ironic that the cardinal made the claim at a "lavish" ?

Last month, the cardinal said, "Religious leaders are not normally economists, however, they cannot ignore the damaging human consequences of the rise and fall of economic indicators. Behind the gloomy headlines are cities, neighbourhoods, families, individuals deeply affected by the economic breakdown; and the hardest hit will be the poor: those already struggling to survive. Christians have a paramount concern for the poor. This "preferential option for the poor" is a constant theme in Catholic social teaching."

His most recent comments follow the attack on the government's anti-recession policy launched at Christmas by five Anglican bishops who said the New Labour stategy was "morally corrupt".

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    Religious leaders are just angry that their own financial situation is as bleak as everyone elses. If god really spoke to them, he'd have warned them to get out of the stock market before it crashed. Proof positive they are as clueless as the rest of us. They should consider that this is HIS way of making them experience real poverty even if they won't hornor their vows. Perhaps HE hates what they do. If they followed "HIS word" they wouldn't have the trappings of royalty. I wonder what the Pope's ring is worth. Just think of how many hungry mouths it could feed if it were auctioned off at Sothebys. Black tie dinner? They should be eating gruel just like some of the Bhuddist monks do. Now they know what a life of deprivation and poverty are about. They're better Christians than the Christians.

  • Comment number 2.


    Capitalism, dead? Haha. Hahaha. A guy walks into a bar....


  • Comment number 3.


    Two things,

    Marcus I know I trust God (that's a less grand statement than it sounds!) and you don't, but on the ring thing, you're right, there really isn't any argument against your view here.


    And, from the Telegraph story, "A spokesman for the Cardinal said: "They were private remarks at a private dinner." "

    Well, that's just a dumb comment.

    Private remarks at a private dinner... dumb diddy dumb dumb, dumb dumb.


  • Comment number 4.


    Hearing the Cardinal proclaim the death of capitalism in Claridge's reminds me of the undoubtedly apocryphal story a friend of mine related after returning from a conference in Ashford Castle (she, though, swears it is true).

    An American fellow delegate asked her if she knew why there were so many clergy in the hotel, she replied that they were there attending a forum on Holy Poverty. The American replied: "Gee, I'd sure like to be around when those guys are discussing clerical celibacy".

  • Comment number 5.

    Hi Portwyne:

    The hypocrisy of the powerful knows no bounds. I nearly threw up the other night when Jeremy Bowen said that Olmert and Sarkozy were probably sitting down to their 'first course', just as F-16s and helicopter gunships were pounding the poor of Gaza.

  • Comment number 6.

    Leave it to a died in the wool communist to bring up the war against terror in a discussion of whether or not the Catholic clergy are right about the future of capitalism. His was another dogma thrown on the ash heap of history. Bombs away.

  • Comment number 7.

    I tend to dislike organized religion, with the emphasis on the "organized" bit. Denominational structures don't much appeal to me. I can see numerous hypocritical or jealous reasons why they may say things like that. HOWEVER, they have very valid points.

    And, correct me if I'm wrong, but the Cardinal may have much of his expenses paid for...but he himself doesn't own much at all. (I disagree with that, but it does have some resemblance to poverty.)

Ìý

Ö÷²¥´óÐã iD

Ö÷²¥´óÐã navigation

Ö÷²¥´óÐã © 2014 The Ö÷²¥´óÐã is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.