So much for giving all your money to feed the poor
Quote:$5.4 million altar for World Youth Day generates controversy in Portugal
Although Pope Francis hasn’t even formally confirmed his presence yet, the 2023 edition of World Youth Day in Lisbon is already generating controversy over a $5.4 million price-tag for the altar area from which the pontiff is expected to celebrate a closing Mass.
Last week Lisbon city officials published details for the massive 54,000-square foot altar and stage area, at a cost of 4.2 million Euro plus VAT, or value-added tax, for a total outlay close to $5.4 million. The contract has been awarded to Portugal’s largest construction company, Mota-Engil.
The expense has generated criticism in the local press and from opposition politicians, who’ve demanded that Mayor Carlos Moedas of Lisbon appear before parliament to answer questions about the awarding of the contract.
“If the housing crisis was an altar for World Youth Day, it would already be solved,” Fabian Figueiredo, from the Left Bloc party, said on Twitter. “The problem is not lack of money but spending priorities.”
In an apparent effort to sidestep the controversy, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni has told news outlets that the organization of the August 1-6 World Youth Day is a local matter, and responsibility for the budget lies with the city council.
Moedas, however, has told reporters that plans for the altar/stage were worked out in meetings with the organizing committee for World Youth Day as well as representatives of both the church in Portugal and also the Vatican.
The altar-stage is designed to accommodate up to 2,000 people, including the pope and his party, 1,000 bishops and 300 other concelebrants, a 200-member choir, 30 translators into sign language, and a 90-member orchestra, along with guests, staff and technicians.
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/202...n-portugal
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
