Pope Benedict's book Jesus of Nazareth is set to release in May. (Through pre-orders, it's already the #34 best-seller on Amazon.)
The Pope has called the book his personal search for the face of the Lord. "Everyone is free, then, to contradict me," he says.
Thank you sir, don't mind if I do.
One of the book's themes is an attack on capitalism: "Confronted with the abuse of economic power,
with the cruelty of capitalism that degrades man into merchandise, we
have begun to see more clearly the dangers of wealth and we understand
in a new way what Jesus intended in warning us about wealth."
The church has one of the best merchandising gigs going. How long have souvenir crucifixes been sold? In most supermarkets you can find Jesus candles. Some even have Virgin Mary figurines. Then there's VaticanGift.com, which hawks a whole line of St. Benedict crucifixes. A quick Google search reveals many similar shops. If the Pope is serious about his message, he should ban the use of his likeness and name from such websites.
True, the Pope does not receive income from the sale of religious merchandise. But that money's going somewhere... into the coffers of businessmen outside the Vatican walls. And I'd hazard a guess that a significant percent of crosses, candles and other knickknacks are produced by third-world laborers. (The same poor souls the Pope decries as the underbelly of capitalism.)
No one's saying that capitalism is without fault. But any -ism of the world is bound to have its foibles and faux pas.
