The Pope who champions the cause of the poor and the oppressed openly rebuked rich patrons who give huge amounts to the Church, but which are considered as "dirty money" gained from illegal and immoral activities. Pope Francis issued such admonition during his general audience at St. Peter's Square last Wednesday.
As per Yahoo News report, Pope Francis directed his speech at the weekly general audience he conducts at the Vatican to the Church's rich patrons. He said, "I think of some benefactors of the Church that say 'take this offer for the Church', and it is profit from the blood of those abused, treated as slaves, workers with poorly paid jobs"
According to Catholic Agency, Pope Francis took a cue from the Book of Isaiah when he rebuked the act of offering dirty money to the church. He said that God does not like "the blood of bulls and lambs, especially if the offering is done with hands dirty with the blood of their brothers."
Nearing the end of his speech, he concluded it by saying, "I say to these people: 'Please, take back your cheque, burn it'. The people of God, the Church, does not need dirty money." His message certainly left many people in deep thought after leaving St. Peter's Square.
This was not the first time that Pope Francis openly issued stinging rebukes to people who profit a lot of money from exploitation. He is known to have also denounced slavery and corruption.
The resilient Pope Francis has been issuing attacks on the mafia that are in Italy and Mexico. He also made an unprecedented expulsion of unrepentant mafia members, condemning them to Hell. Such statements ignited fear in the hearts of many of a possible retaliation from mafia members.
Now that Pope Francis has said that the Church does not want the dirty money of rich patrons gained from exploitation activities, there would be people who will feel offended at such a strong statement. Perhaps for the pope, what matters to him is that he made people realize the depravity of their actions.
