Peter Pence Pockets Pinched

The Holy See is back in the black primarily due to record ticket sales at Vatican museums and the Vatican Bank kicking in US$79.9 million for charitable works.

The bad news for the Vatican and the Catholic Church is the US$22 million lost in the Peter Pence Collection, the account held for donations from worldwide lay members earmarked for charitable work. In previous years, the United States accounted for 26% of those donations.

The Vatican did not give an explanation of why losses were so high in the Peter Pence Collection but one can guess it has to do with the faithful whose eyes and ears have been opened to the Church's hypocrisy and arrogance in handling thousands of scandals involving Church clerics and hierarchy.

Following Catholic procedure of no transparency, the Vatican did not issue the report at a press conference so there's no more information.

Consider this: In June 2010, the grassroots group, Send the Bishops a Me$$sage, launched a national campaign urging parishioners to re-direct their donations from the Peter Pence Collection to non-church charities.  The group believes using money is the only way to communicate dissatisfaction with Church officials.

Send the Bishops a Me$$age brings up an issue of interest on its website: http://www.sendthebishopsamessage.com/:

• "Lay Catholics have no rights. They are to pray, pay and obey...Lay Catholics have no elections, recall procedures or impeachment processes that allow them to replace those in authority."

Pope Benedict XVI's pumped up campaign efforts to bring back the lapsed Catholics may get them to pray and obey but will he get them to pay?