Vatican bullshits the public for no apparent reason.

[No Elephants]

VATICAN CITY — <snip>

On Thursday, the Vatican spokesman acknowledged that Benedict hit his head and bled profusely while visiting Mexico in March. Two days earlier the same man acknowledged that Benedict has had a pacemaker for years, and underwent a secret operation to replace its battery three months ago.

And as the Catholic world reeled from shock over the abdication, it soon became clear that Benedict's post-papacy lodgings have been under construction since at least the fall. That in turn put holes in the Holy See's early claims that Benedict kept his decision to himself until he revealed it.

Vatican secrecy is legendary and can have tragic consequences – as the world learned through the church sex abuse scandal in which bishops quietly moved abusive priests without reporting their crimes.

And the secrecy is institutionalized from such weighty matters to the most trivial aspects of Vatican life.

<snip>

One of the most famous cases of Vatican secrecy was the Holy See's efforts to cover up the fact that Pope John Paul I's dead body was discovered by a nun. The eventual revelation helped fuel conspiracy theories over the death of the pope who ruled for only 33 days in 1978.

The Vatican is so obsessed with secrecy that the first and only official confirmation that John Paul II had Parkinson's disease was in his death certificate.

The Vatican justifies itself by arguing that its officials are holders of the divine truth, unaccountable to worldly laws. In particular, the pope's word is the final say on any issue – infallible on some doctrinal matters. But groups representing sex abuse victims, and other Catholics angered by the scandal, have been demanding modern standards of accountability and calling for reforms.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/14/vatican-secrets_n_2687474.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

If you are doing God's work, why all the secrecy?

Still, secrecy by a church is one thing. Outright lying by a church is another thing altogether.

When they announced the Pope's resignation, they specified that he had kept the decision to himself and had announced it for the first time in Latin to a small group of cardinals the prior day.

LIE! Why?

Why not say he decided months ago, but did not want to make the decision public until his new quarters neared completion?

BTW, the admonition against lying is not only a worldly law. Any church or group within a church that believes it is free to violate the Biblical admonitions that apply to everyone else is a cult.

And that is not JMO.

[Enthusiast]

1. Lies and secrecy

by "trusted" institutions is on the rise. While citizens are subjected to ever growing scrutiny, government secrecy has grown enormously. Whistle blowers are being prosecuted at an alarming rate.

These institutions just do not want us to know what they are doing. Because we will recognize what they are doing is wrong.

[No Elephants]

2. Now that you mention it, some of the worship is cult-like, even when it has

nothing to do with traditional ideas of religion.

We have idolatry of political parties, idolatory of the governmental authority, idolatory of particular politicians or offices.

You've nailed it. No wonder it's so creepy.

[formercia]

3. The connection with the fall of Liberation Theology:

"One of the most famous cases of Vatican secrecy was the Holy See's efforts to cover up the fact that Pope John Paul I's dead body was discovered by a nun. The eventual revelation helped fuel conspiracy theories over the death of the pope who ruled for only 33 days in 1978."

[No Elephants]

4. See, I always thought that nuns served as housekeepers and servants for Popes

So, the idea that a nun might discover the body would not even make me think twice.

Then again, I don't have the first idea who serves the Pope on a daily basis.

[formercia]

5. Nuns are slaves.

They do all the dirty work in the church, make the vestments, scrub his skivvies and the floors. It's a tough life at no pay. I must admit,that at the Catholic Hospital where I had some polyps removed from my gut, the nuns wore civvies, except for those Nun Shoes. I will never forget those, looking down at them as Mother Superior berated me about something or other. When I watched the Blues Brothers, I had to laugh. It could have been me instead,,,lol.

[No Elephants]

6. So, no custom made Prada shoes for the nuns?

[formercia]

7. No, just clunky, square-toed clodhoppers

You can tell by the shoes. They have mellowed-out a lot since I was a kid, though. I kind of enjoyed talking with her. She came to visit me in the recovery room, said she enjoyed our conversation, and not once mentioned anything religious.

[Enthusiast]

8. I could never forget those clunky shoes.

Frightening. :scared: