Time for Trump to buy the papacy
Quote:Pope Leo looks to MAGA megadonors to shore up Church finances
The new American pope is looking to his MAGA compatriots to shore up the Vatican’s finances after decades of scandal and mismanagement.
Despite the Vatican’s vaults of priceless masterpieces, Leo has ascended to the papal throne amid a steepening liquidity crisis aggravated by a major downturn in donations from the U.S., making it increasingly difficult for the city state to function.
A boost to donations is desperately needed. According to Reuters, the latest internal figures show the Vatican ran a deficit of €83 million in 2024, more than double the €38 million reported in its last-published financial report in 2022.
Donors from the U.S., the number one contributing country, were put off by Francis’ more liberal teachings on LGBTQ+ and marriage as well as corruption scandals including a botched investment by the Vatican’s top financial institution in London real estate, said John Yep, president of Catholics for Catholics, a conservative NGO.
Leo has signaled a willingness to address traditionalist priorities, drawing particular praise for his decision to move back to the original papal residence from his predecessor’s basic lodgings, as well as for his penchant for singing in Latin.
This year’s conclave also happened to coincide with an annual Vatican fundraising jamboree known as “America Week,” a week of lavish Rome parties, that saw €1 billion committed to the Vatican should the “right pope” be elected.
The upshot is — theoretically — more money from across the pond.
“American philanthropists want to see that so they will open up their coffers again,” said Yep.
Electing Leo “was a very smart choice because they absolutely need the American money. The church is in a terrible position financially,” said the Catholic leader in the U.S.
https://www.politico.eu/article/pope-leo...servative/
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"
