Anybody think to ask Langone about that whole camel/eye-of-a-needle thing? Maybe he should ask Timothy Dolan to pass his concern along...

Seriously, we need to go all Paris Mob 1789 on the wealthy in this country and THEN they can complain about people being mean to them.

If he thinks the pope had harsh things to say about the wealthy, he should take a look at what the pope's boss, Jesus, said about the wealthy.

Clash of the Roman aristocracy. One can only hope they finally and at long last destroy themselves.

Last time I checked, Jesus agreed with the Pope, and threw the moneylenders out of the Temple

Love it. The American Catholic rich threaten the Pope. They feel "disrespected." Know what I mean?

@26 Digby beat me to it.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/n…

Thinly veiled threat...

"I'm not going to lift a finger to help the poor until you stop saying mean things about me," says man accused of being a heartless monster.

Now what sort of devout Catholic doesn't understand the tenet of Papal infallibility?

@9: And in this instance doing something for the poor means a 9 figure restoration of a chapel whose main purpose is to impress NYC tourists.

Mark 10
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
...
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

This underscores the basic difficulty the Catholic Church has as regards it's global flock: The more progressive, yet less-numerous rich Western Catholics don't like to hear horrid stuff that the Church is compelled to say so that it can keep and grow the far, far larger population of less-wealthy Catholics in Central & South America, Africa, and Asia.

@13: Nicely played.

Anyone who believes you can buy your way into heaven is probably Catholic.

@12
I suggest that you reread the gospel of Mark for starters.
True, he never "condemns" wealthy people, as in, "that's evil", he just says that they won't go to heaven, will have a hard time understanding his message, and basically that wealth is meaningless to him and your soul, but can affect your mind and prevent you from being with him,

@13
Its one of my favorite passages. In the bible I had growing up, the man comes to him and basically says that he wants to be close to God, and that he follows all NINE commandments(he omits the one about coveting your nieghbor's house, meaning love of wealth). Then Jesus tells him to give his stuff away, and man, he doesn't like that. The bible is pretty clear that you can love God OR wealth, not both.

This has nothing to do with Jesus. The Catholics don't talk about Jesus. And @5, the moneylenders weren't moneylenders; they were moneychangers because Jerusalem was a big trading town and the outer Temple was a neighborhood center, not a religious sanctuary. And they sure as hell weren't wealthy.

@20
I think you are conveniently forgetting the same commandment. It is extremely convenient to, I admit to doing it as well, hell, society practically demands it. I sin all the time in that way.
BUT!!!! Jesus DID NOT tell people to be practical. He never told people parables, and then said, "you know...unless its tough on you..."
AND I would say that you can't be a rich man without loving money. There are so many homeless people asking for it all the time! If you don't care about it, why wont you share what you've got?
AND Jesus spoke at the temple about the widow giving alms. Many theologians believe this was to underline the holiness of mercy, and the non-holiness of mere charity. It you only give it because you don't need it, and not because the other person needs it, that's charity.
AND happy nude year to you too! :)

Wealthy people can be nice and well meaning (see Bill Gates or Warren Buffett), or they can be complete assholes (see the Koch brothers or any of the Walton family), just like anyone else. They just have more money to throw around to try to influence people to do what they want. Langone's implication that wealthy people are selfless is ridiculous on its face.

Amen, Brother Cracolici!

@14 I appreciate the correction. The Wikipedia page I sought afterward was more informative than the however many years in Catholic school I made it through.

Also, whether you intend to or not, you come across as an asshole.