I

just wonder what Jesus Christ, the poor carpenter'€™s son from Nazareth, would have to say about the disgusting and degrading practices going on in the Vatican.

Verily, the love of money is the root of all evil. Not only have these church officials allowed the love of power to lead them astray. They couldn'€™t resist the alluring temptation of worldly wealth as well.

 The monsignor who allegedly broke down the wall of his neighbor, an ailing priest, in order to expand his apartment, causing distress to the old gentleman, reminds us of the ruthlessness of that other faithful Catholic, Simon de Montfort, who commanded the troops in the brutal persecution of the Waldensians and Albigensians in the 13th century. Old Simon has become an icon for cruelty perhaps equaled only by Adolf Hitler.

If sainthood can really be purchased, then the Catholic Church has regressed to the Middle Ages, where sinners, especially the wealthy ones, were assured by church officials that they would be secured '€œa place in heaven'€ if they paid money for indulgences.

No wonder people say in the Netherlands: '€œChrist has been taken from us in Church.'€ What they mean is that, in the churches, Christ was discussed theoretically, but not in a way that was alive and real. He has been mangled between dogmas and theological theories that lack His real essence.

Perhaps it is not too late to bring the genuine Christ back to the Roman Catholic Church and to other churches as well.

Tami Koestomo
Bogor