ONE of the world’s richest organisations – whose wealth is derived mainly from centuries of fleecing the poor, the gullible, the superstitious and the feeble-minded – has decreed that ‘obscenely wealthy’ people risk eternal damnation.
Yes folks, those Vatican fashionistas in their sumptious frocks, and smothered in ostentatious bling, have updated the Catholic Church’s list of deadly sins. They have now identified the following modern evils that are likely to earn sinners eternity in hell:
- Environmental pollution
- Genetic manipulation
- Accumulating excessive wealth
- Inflicting poverty
- Drug trafficking and consumption
- Morally debatable experiments
But Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, dismissed the Vatican latest bout of attention-getting as ‘hypocritical’, and said in a BBC interview today that the Church needed to get its own house in order before lecturing the rest of us.
He was particularly scathing about the new sins of ‘excessive wealth’ and ‘inflicting poverty’, pointing out that the Church had benefitted for centuries by relieving the poorest in society of their cash, and had thereby conspired to keep the poor in a perpetual state of poverty.
He also pointed out that the Church, through its opposition to contraception, was doing enormous damage to the environment. Too many people were chasing too few resources, and the environmental cost of this policy was rising day by day.
The new mortal sins were listed by Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti at the end of a week-long training seminar in Rome for priests, aimed at encouraging a revival of the practice of confession – or the Sacrament of Penance in Church jargon.
You can read the full report here.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
March 10th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Ah, screw them. All this is just someone having a laugh (see that renowned South Park episode on Scientology)… The caption on that picture is priceless.
March 10th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
How can they decide what would bring you eternal damnation? Even if there were such a thing as god, they certainly aren’t it!
March 10th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
The hypocracy!
It’s almost enough to make me think that this organised religion malarky is a load of man made bollocks!
March 14th, 2008 at 6:00 am
I wish everyone associated with the proliferation of the catholic church (among others) would just fucking die already. I don’t care whether or not they experience the eternal hell they preach, I just want them to stop hurting the world.
March 14th, 2008 at 10:45 am
• Environmental pollution
-I’m sure all those missionaries travelling around the world to preach thier nonsense arent doing it on bicycles!
• Genetic manipulation
-Food and medical improvements are a sin!
• Accumulating excessive wealth
-Says one of the richest small city-states in the world
• Inflicting poverty
-Says one of the richest small city-states in the world that is unlikely to have gotten that much money from business ventures
• Drug trafficking and consumption
-They feed wine to children!!!1
• Morally debatable experiments
-I trust thier support for that fictional, disproven “ex-gay” stuff is going to be withdrawn, then
March 14th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
..follow the yellow brick road….follow the yellow brick road…..
I can recognise Dorothy, but which one’s the Tin Man and which one’s the Scarecrow?
March 14th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
In their infallible wisdom they neglected to add one for “Child Abuse”.
March 15th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
** Suffer the little children . . . **
Sure, the kids are martyrs — the Church needs martyrs. What happened is God’s Will since everything that happens is consistent with the Will of God. Otherwise, it would not happen. This is what We call theodicy.
Just because God’s ways are totally inscrutable to you does not mean that We cannot do whatever We wish. We do not even need to pray about it. That is just a sop to the press.
Honest to God, who’s in charge here anyway? Not in 2,000 years has He raised His Voice or Hand against Us. Who are you to be bitchin’ to Us?
First, We prey on them; then We “pray” for them. What could be fairer than that?
Benny 16
March 15th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
I mentioned on FreeInfidel (http://www.freeinfidel.com/2008/03/11/new_sins/) that this is just a sad attempt by a rapidly dwindling church to latch on to hip subjects. Shame they have to do it in such a medieval manner.
March 16th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Alcohol is a drug. Jesus drank it, and even fucking pushed it on the disciples. Are they in Hell? Suck it Godboys.
March 16th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Makes sense. Clearly the religion for today’s modern (m/b)illionaire is scientology anyhow.
March 16th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
sorry if i offend anyone but the pope can suck my c**k there is nothing wrong with being rich
March 16th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Looks like he’s goose-stepping. Bringing back old forgotten memories of his innocent youth, I’d guess.
March 20th, 2008 at 3:14 am
The Catholic Church has a long history of condemning wealth in private citizens to elicit donations into its own coffers. Mother Teresa has publicly stated that it is her preference for people to live in poverty and suffering in order to develop a closer relationship with Christ. It should come as no surprise that these people want to tell others to live in squalor. They are disgusting, in no uncertain terms.
March 20th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I have to say I think most of this is a step in the right direction.
Yes the church is hypocritical, but that’s hardly a NEW thing, is it?
They are outright condemning excess wealth (ala Paris Hilton), something that everyone knows is bad, but which no rich and powerful individual would ever say in public. That’s one good thing.
They are condemning those who actively create poverty. Whether or not that includes the church itself is immaterial in practice because millions of Catholics will now shun the uber-rich and deliberately avoid supporting organisations that create poverty (reebok, levis, mc donalds etc)
We all know that the church is generally less than 100% moral but please give them credit when they DO do the right thing!
March 21st, 2008 at 8:23 pm
They should made some bacteria “saint”
just in case scientists discover it on ex. Mars.
” Oooo, Gods finger on Mars! Gosssh” – B16 would say.
HAHAHAHAHAHA
I think i’m a sinnner, o no! Blasphemer!
April 1st, 2008 at 3:13 am
i think they are still included in the original seven deadly sins:
• Environmental pollution (can be sloth, greed or vanity)
• Genetic manipulation (can be pride, vanity)
• Accumulating excessive wealth (mhen..it sounds like its a sin to work your ass out! We all take college to study so we can work and be a millionaire. i don’t think its a sin to accumulate your wealth.)
• Inflicting poverty (eh?)
• Drug trafficking and consumption (pride and vanity, gluttony, lust and what ever..)
• Morally debatable experiments (morally debatable? okay, i’ll bite. it can be under pride, lust and vanity)
If i misinterpret any thing, and you’ve justified your post, then I stand corrected.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:38 am
Oh, Cheesus, Ain’t it fun to play dress up!
If I had a pair of those red slippers I’d try for a part in the Whizz of Oz. But I wouldn’t wear them in any gay bars. But these guys are priests and they like that stuff, I guess.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:18 am
Re:#10 WILL-you don’t need to tell these guys to “SUCK IT up”! Ask any altar boy…priests know how…
Re:#15 KIM MOBEY-give them CREDIT? how much of your TAXES go to pick up the slack that THEY DON’T PAY? While they scam the feeble minded, aged, and non-critical thinking? Give me 1% in credit that they steal from the rest of us! I’d live next to Steve Wozniak!
April 5th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
They DID consult the queen spider on this, didn’t they?
April 8th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Remember that Jesus did say that the rich have a better chance of fitting through the eye of a needle than making it to heaven. So, they do have a point.
But for an obscenely wealthy tax-free church (not to mention the obscenely wealthy pastors of megachurchs) shows hypocrisy at its finest.
But of course this brings up a finer point about interpretation. What ‘rich’ actually means… who the hell knows.
April 8th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I personaly think its all down to the tyranny of relativism.
Look you’re either rich or you’re poor, right.
April 9th, 2008 at 2:45 am
“the three vatican queens”, that is so funny. How much did that hitler youth pope pay for those shoes, They look very expensive, probaly something a very wealthy sinful person would be wearing. They are f-ing pedophile hypocrites. The whole history of the catholic church is full of evil and sins
April 10th, 2008 at 6:18 am
They’ve condemned themselves! To the fires of hell they go!
April 10th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
DUDE!!…did you just say “ostentatious bling”??
December 17th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
previously woytjla stated that is a “sin” also when a citizen doesn’t declare its own earnings…
June 13th, 2010 at 1:35 am
yes the devil wears prada