Bernie goes to Rome – I
Senator Bernie Sanders’s unexpected visit to the Vatican where he spoke at a conference on social and economic justice, was quite an unorthodox campaign move, to say the least. But to address ‘immoral and unsustainable’ wealth inequality and poverty issues in the heart of the Roman Catholic Church, well, that is a downright travesty. The Vatican! Throughout its 2000 year history the Catholic Church’s greed has been unmatched, and so have the viciously illegal methods it used and abused to acquire all its accumulated wealth.
The Senator has brought ten members of his family to Rome. Since the Pontifex has no time to meet with them, they might as well take the opportunity and spend some extra time at the Vatican Museums, seven kilometers of what often looks like a warehouse full of tastelessly piled stolen goods. There, in this temple of gluttony, the Sanders Family will witness what immoral and perverted wealth really looks like. Compared to the Musei Vaticani Donald Trump’s $100 m. New York City apartment might appear to be a modest example of good taste.
On the other hand, the Institute for the Works of Religion, a.k.a. the Vatican Bank, is as good a first case to study as any other if your ambition is to break up the big banks. Next time we’ll take a closer look the Holy Church’s financial records.
Antony Oomen
16.IV/2016
Amsterdam