the nine thumbs down most be the peoples who stole the relic’s!!!!!!

I do love the 23 negative comments for Great News it does fuck up all those marketing people

It was the cops not the power of prayer. Also they should be sold and the money given to the poor. Think Jesus said give all your money to the poor. The Vatican doesn’t follow that teaching!!!

my thoughts exactly Dylan; tho in fairness i was giving 100% of the credit to the Garda ;-)

I heard the tooth fairy also helped god get the gear back.

Yep. We can rest easier in our beds tonight…

Apart from the fact to some ( not many I agree) the church is a terrorist organisation.

When the Church has done something wrong,I’ll definitely criticize them. But in fairness,the objects were stolen from them and if the thieves are like the ones robbing old priests and parishioners in my area over the recent few months, they couldn’t give a damn about religion or what the Catholic Church has done to anyone in the past,out for themselves!

Well said Ann-Marie. They’re always very bold these lot. :-)

Oh they’re unbelievable, Réada! ;)

Glad your doing better now Franco wish you the best.

Best of luck Franco!

oh dear oh dear did nine people just thumb down Francos very uplifting comment, what sort of deranged people are out there. my apologies on their behalf Franco. Best of luck

I wish you the best Franco but surely we should put our belief in science which is actually endeavouring every minute of the day to find a cure for these awful diseases..?

thanks tim you are right science during the day and prayer at night works wonders ..

While I don’t believe in religion and lash at the Roman Church at any opportunity where I think they deserve it I also think peoples beliefs should be respected and good news is scarce and welcome. I’m delighted that these historic items have been returned and hope your recovery franco will have the same happy outcome.

Tried it and all it did was harm

I hear you franco and wish you well.

All the best to you Franco…

Randy, you’re a star. Sittin’ there with a dangerous weapon and “will be killed” on the wall behind you. Class…

Watch the straw boater Michael! Looks a target from here!!!

Franco. Nothing wrong with prayer, whomever you pray to. The stillness won’t ever do harm. Best of luck.

How dare you question authority!!! ;-) the True cross must have been 50ft tall and 25ft wide, going by the amount of true cross chips doing the rounds!!!

Much like the foundation of all major religions I imagine it’s based on nothing more than anecdotal ‘evidence’

Yes but it’s vast !
Once you walk through it you will never give another penny to “Peters Pence”.
They could raise billions selling just some of the collection once the recession is over.

There’s also the other part of the museums, the backstage bit showing all the props, old bibles and such, not so much art, more like gore and fetishism -teeth and fingers and even a bust of one of the saints made of gold formed around his actual skull. It’s weird how much the catholic version of god apparently loves gold and jewels though, surprising he didn’t make more of it if he’s such a fan

I think it is right that the Vatican retains and displays the artifacts of it’s history as it is right and proper that similar artifacts which form part of the rich history of this country also be retained and displayed in the abbeys and churches where they rightly belong.
Like it or not most works of art, music, architecture, sculpture etc. were commissioned and inspired by the belief in and the expression of the exuberance of religion. If we can only look upon religious practice and belief with the view that it should be broken down and it’s artifacts dispersed and devoured by maw of the commercial and economic greed so that the treasures of this country and others decorate the mantelpiece of some stockbroker or bond trader, oligarch or despot then we loose.

“They could raise billions selling just some of the collection once the recession is over.”

You’re forgetting about the big fat Swiss bank accounts and all the land they own. They preach about not being materialistic and then you see the Pope, Bishops, Cardinals all with more bling than 50 Cent. ??
Followers just accept this. “Ah sure, t’is fine, leave them alone.” ??

I think that’s a great idea, sell all on Ireland’s art get say 1bn give 10m to living Irish artists to restock then use remaining 990m for hospitals and other vital needs. A painting has never helped a starving child

Hold on Jay! You reckon that if all the art in the museums and the Vatican, for that matter ,were sold the money would reach the mouths of starving children??

Mark, seeing as you wish to sell state assets to pay the bank debt I wonder why you don’t want to sell everything from the national Museum too. That will be next. They won’t stop until the whole island is sold off. Btw I wouldn’t sell them either. :)

We’re already on our knees. Do you want us to prostrate ourselves?

yes please, Reada! Lots of prostrating, prostrating with prayer, face first onto the cold floor with a prayer on yer lips and a song of praise in yer heart! But…mostly prostrating!!!

Sorry Dave. I’ve stood up. Not on my knees so no chance! :-)

You’ve got to try to get over this Cyril. You really do. I knew I’d see a comment from you here. :D

Reada when the religious decide to leave their wishful thinking out of our schools, politics and courts, when our media allows a sceptical analysis of religion itself then I will consider it time to call it a day. Unfortunately that will be an equally predictible outcome and as long as it is I aint going anywhere.

I was only teasing Cyril. It was late. Hadn’t hit the bottle or anything but maybe “la Luna” was having an effect. :-)

“Pope Benedict XVI condemned unbridled “pagan” passion for power, possessions and money as a modern-day plague Saturday as he led more than a quarter of a million Catholics in an outdoor Mass in Paris.”

But…this is from the Mr Fancy Pants in silk clothes with gold stitching who lives
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/09/15/vatican.jpg

Give me a good reason why I should not even question this.

The church really has aMASSsed their massive portfolio of property, gold bullion, priceless art and lots and lots of cash, through helping the poor. Is there an irony here?

My friend, I never said to shouldn’t question things. Catholics are not against questioning matters despite myths to the contrary. But questioning also implies being open to answers…
The Pope personally has no money. He lives in relatively humble apartments. In fact, when Pope John Paul II died, the entire apartment he lived in had to be gutted and refitted before the present pope moved in. The pipes leaked, only one ring on his cooker worked…It is well known that his underwear was repatched and repaired again and again to the point of falling apart. It is possible to live amidst splendour and still live with personal poverty and detachment.
The simple fact is that the Church is one of the most significant charitable organisations in the world (if not in fact the biggest). it is also possible to point to many many individual Catholics who have given up everything to serve the poor. If we are prepared to condemn the Church on the basis of what we perceive to be faults then we should also be prepared to praise it when we see manifestly good things. Unfortunately many people are either unaware of the good things or do not wish to see them.
The Church, strictly speaking, does not need its art and buildings. But the Church believes in beauty (you wouldn’t think it based on the church in Ireland though…). This beauty inspires us, and this inspiration is a good thing for the human spirit. If it was all sold off, it would feed poor for a while (who are already being fed by the Church by the way) and then what? Great works of art and beauty would be hoarded by private collectors and investors and humanity would be worse off.
By the way, there is a hostel for the homeless in the Vatican. Most people do not know this.
Also, the Vatican finances were depleted on various occasions in recent history because of the charity of the popes to the poor of Rome during various crises, specifically during WWII.

@ponythegringo – I am very sorry for your family’s sufferings. It is beyond doubt that there have been many corrupt people in the Church. They have more guilt than those outside the Church because they should have known better. The crimes of the clergy are indeed much worse than the crimes of others precisely because of the position that they hold.
That said, there are many inaccuracies in your post. One example is in relation to the homeless shelter. Yes. there is one in the Vatican (which is a very small piece of land).. But there are tens of thousands of them around the world that have been founded because of Christian teaching. And let us be clear about what that teaching is – it is Love. Unfortunately, many people, including many in the Church, do not follow that teaching. But there are still those who do, and they do a lot of good in the world.
Ireland was never really a Catholic country, at least not within the last few hundred years. Yes, it was a clerical country and a Jansenistic country, but they are aberrations of Catholicism. One of the downsides of this is that we tend to equate the behaviour of priests with the teachings of the Church. This is wrong because many priests behave in ways that are contrary to the teachings of the Church. But even though there are many who ignore them, those teachings about love remain, and they are still an inspiration to many.

From the Bible.
Blessed is the one who grabs your little children and smashes them against a rock.
- God
Psalm 137:9

If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her.
- God
Deuteronomy 22:28

However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance.
- God
Leviticus 25

Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all – old and young, girls and women and little children.
- God
Ezekiel 9:5

When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are.
- God
Exodus 21:7

There are more lovely quotes.

@ponythegringo: Yes, the Church is about love. I am sorry if you have never met anybody who has explained this to you before. The Church in Ireland is so decrepit and in need of reform that it is unsurprising that this message has never been received.
As for pre-Christian teachings and their love for everything? Well, I’m afraid you need to go back to your history books. What about the cruelty of the Romans? The cannibalism of numerous pagan tribes and civilisations? How well did the Aztecs love all of creation? The reality is that the civilisation that we take for granted – the basic human decency and regard for others – rests largely on Christian love. A review of the history of the early Christian period makes it clear that it was the love and the decency of the early Christians that helped them to grow in number so rapidly. And remember, they grew in number rapidly despite persecutions; despite the fact that being a Christian could mean death at the hands of Roman soldiers or death in the mouth of a lion! There was surely something compelling that caused an impoverished sect with no political or financial power to grow exponentially despite the huge risk of death. It is clear that Christians loved others and treated people better than the prevailing ethos of the pagan world. That is what Christianity is about.
Have there been many priests, bishops and even popes who have pursued the coin? Sure! There were many and there probably will be many in the future. But they are the minority. On the other hand there were (and still are!) many great Catholics who literally laid their lives down to serve others, and did so without ever calling attention to themselves. That is the message of Christianity when lived properly, not in the half hearted way in has generally been lived in this country.
Specifically, in terms of raping the planet in pursuit of money, well despite your proclamation to the contrary, there is nothing in Christian teaching that would make such people feel good about themselves.
When you think about it, it doesn’t make much sense to abandon the goodness of Jesus because of badness of Judas…