St Cyril of Alexandria’s commentary draws attention to the fact that those who heard Jesus were so astonished at the authority with which he spoke that they thought him the one prophesied who would speak the word of God, or even the Christ. They believed the latter would be of the seed of David and would be revealed in Bethlehem of Judea. Knowing that Jesus was from Nazareth, some Jews are misled, and, lacking faith and full knowledge, fall away.
The Pharisees, fearing that the Jews would follow Jesus, sent men to arrest him, but they were so touched by his words that they did not do so, telling the Pharisees that no one ever spoke like Jesus.
St Augustine points out how the officers bear witness to the power of Jesus. They knew he was not like other men. But the Pharisees, who knew every letter of the Law, failed to recognise its spirit, and they were blinded by their pride.
Chrysostom adds that the Pharisees neither knew the fullness of the Law, neither did they do what it commanded, for it said that no man should be killed without being granted a hearing. But it is clear, from the testimony of Nicodemus, that not all the Pharisees were blind. He knew, from his own experience, the power of the words of Jesus, but he is silenced, as Peter will be later, by fear of the wrath of the Pharisees. Like us, he is weak and fearful. Authority on earth is a powerful thing and can drive us into silence. Can we summon the courage to confess Him in such circumstances?
All Along the Watchtower 
Ask a devout, theologically literate Roman Catholic to describe the institution of the church, and you’re likely to be told that it was founded by Jesus Christ at the moment he gave his disciple Peter the “keys to the kingdom of heaven” and vowed that “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.” This made Peter the head of the universal church, empowered to administer the sacraments, spread the Gospel, save souls and forgive sins until Christ’s return, as well as to pronounce with infallible authority on matters of Christian faith and morals. Christ also promised Peter that “the gates of hell shall not prevail” against the church — meaning that no matter how corrupt the institution might appear at any given moment of history, it will never be so consumed by evil that it ceases to be capable of fulfilling its God-appointed tasks/.2
Ask an informed historian or journalist about the history of the church — especially the Vatican and the papacy — and you are likely to hear a different story. On this telling, the church from the beginning has been an all-too-human institution that often follows a logic of self-interest, placing the good of its members ahead of those outside it, and the good of those in positions of ecclesiastical power ahead of the good of everyone else. To a greater or lesser extent, this has been true of most institutions throughout history, though it has been a particular problem in the 2,000-year history of the church, with its lack of democratic accountability and deep roots in the corruption-prone political culture of the Italian peninsula. The result has been a tension — and sometimes a blatant contradiction — between the church’s exalted claims for itself and its behavior.
Think of medieval popes waging the Crusades — raising armies, sacking cities and conquering territory — in the name of Jesus Christ. Or prelates torturing apostates and heretics during the Inquisition. Or Pope Pius V expelling Jews from the Papal States in 1569. Or Pope Pius XI signing the Reichskonkordat with Hitler, which, in return for winning a measure of freedom for German Catholics under the Nazis, assured silence from the Holy See over the forced sterilization of 400,000 people and then only the faintest of objections to the Holocaust. Or more recently, bishops and other church officials concealing widespread and repeated child sexual abuse by priests.
All of these and many other well-known acts of complicity with the ways of the world are touched on in Gerald Posner’s new book, but its main subject is a somewhat more arcane form of corruption. “God’s Bankers” provides an exhaustive history of financial machinations at the center of the church in Rome, from the final decades of the 19th century down to Pope Francis’ sincere but as yet inconclusive efforts to reform the church’s labyrinthine bureaucracy (the Curia) and the Vatican Bank (named Istituto per le Opere di Religione, or Institute for the Works of Religion, also known as the I.O.R.).
That the Vatican has a bank at all is surprising when taking in the long view of church history. During the Middle Ages, the papacy developed into an aristocratic and feudal institution dependent for much of its income on rents and taxes collected in the Papal States of central Italy. This came to an abrupt end with the final unification of Italy in 1870, which deprived the church of its lands and feudal income, leading to several decades of acute financial insecurity.
Popes of this period — Pius IX, Leo XIII, Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XI — publicly denounced lending money at interest (usury) while at the same time accepting massive loans from the Rothschilds and making their own interest-bearing loans to Italian Catholics. Beginning with Bernardino Nogara, appointed by Pius XI in 1929, the church also empowered a series of often shady financial advisers to engage in financial wheeling and dealing around the globe. “So long as the balance sheets showed surpluses,” Posner writes, “Pius and his chief advisers were pleased.” That pattern would continue through the rest of the 20th century.
From there Posner weaves an extraordinarily intricate tale of intrigue, corruption and organized criminality — much of it familiar to journalists who cover the Vatican, though not widely known among more casual church watchers — from Pius XII down to Benedict XVI. These were years when the Vatican moved beyond the last vestiges of feudal restraint to become “a savvy international holding company with its own central bank” and a “maze of offshore holding companies” that were used as sprawling money-laundering operations for the Mafia and lucrative slush funds for Italian politicians.
Oh Mary. theseprotestants keep briningup the works of the devil. The devil only attacks gods true church. This only proves that the catholic church is gods true church. The more wicked the dealings, the more it shows we are gods true churchThank you Mary for all our wickedness.
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There’s much in that with which I’d agree. I think only certain rather deranged Protestants who seem to imagine, despite possessing mirrors, that those who know God are spotless, get surprised by history.
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Thank you for this piece, C. John’s Gospel is truly wonderful. Your final question reminds me of the scene in Acts where the Church of Jerusalem is persecuted, and they pray that the Lord will give them the boldness they need to preach the Gospel. Our Father sends His Spirit and the room is shaken. This is to be our response.
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It is, indeed, Nicholas. I thought it worth doing the extra commentary 🙂 Today’s will be up soon.
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Oh Mary, let us pray;
The catholic church was founded bt Jesus himself. The gates of hell wont prevail against it. Oh Mary, the devil is attacking our pure and white church. This only goes to show that our catholic church is really gods true church. The reams of wicked priests and legions of lesbian nuns only goes to show how godly the catholic church is.
Thank you Mary
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If you were Satan, Bosco, who would you attack if not God’s Church?
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I have no idea what I would do if I was Satanas. The first thing I would do is get a free pastrami combo at the local SS Burger Basket.
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That’s unimaginative of you 🙂
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I don’t thin our nuns are feeling attacked while they munch down.on their female counterparts. I don’t think the prists are feeling depressed as they maul the young boys. Thank you Mary for providing pleasure for our clergy and may this continue as we go into heaven. heaven is one big fat Boystown USA. Our Saints will be in heaven. Thank you Mary
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There’s a quaintness here Bosco. Ignorant Protestants have been tarring every nun and priests with the sins of the minority for centuries. You should be thanking your father, Satan, from whom all such lies come.
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Good brother Chalcedon, the devil isn’t doing his job if only a few nuns are lesbian. I had a girlsfrind who has a cousin who became a nun. She came to a family BBQ with her nun girlfriend. She intimated that all of the nun school attendees were lesbos. This goes to show how godly the catholic church is. Oh thank you Mary for guiding me to the one true catholic universal pure and white catholic church.
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I can only imagine what these hunny bunnys do when they got back to the nun convent. cause they were getting it on at the BBQ and were holding back for the sake of the young ones at the event. They must let it fly at the convent. We all know the seminarians at catholic priest schools fly high with wild abandon. This is no secret. That’s why I joined the catholic church. Its gods true church. Thank you Mary. And Mary, I guess you are not married for a reason. You are the head of the nuns. Chief nun.
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Don’t get me wrong. id like to be the meat in one of those nun sandwiches.
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Sounds like the Devil’s doing a good job there.
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Thank you Mary. I have a rosary in on hand and a basket of drug money in the other hand. This shows how godly our pure and white church is.
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Or perhaps just that you are now in repeat mode?
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——————————————————————————–
Catholics in Chile protest appointment of bishop Juan Barros who is accused of protecting a notorious peaedophile. Julie Noce reports….
This is proof positive that the catholic church is gods true church. That’s why I joined it. Every bishop is a pedophile and they all cover for each other. I wouldn’t belong to any other church in the world. This wonderful catholic church is gods true church. Oh thank you Mary.
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A new Catholic bishop of Arundel and Brighton has been appointed after his predecessor resigned.
Bishop Richard Moth will be installed in his new role in May.
The previous bishop, the Rt Rev Kieran Conry, stepped down last September after he said he had been “unfaithful” to his promises as a Catholic priest and brought “shame” on the diocese, which covers Sussex and Surrey.
His crime was that he got it on with an adult female. He had to resign. Now, if he had abused little boys, he made an arch bishop in good standing. We catholics don’t tolerate our bishops being with adult females.
Thank you Mary, ever Virgin.
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