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Opus Dei To Hunt Down Vatican Whistle-Blowers
First time accepted submitter Aguazul2 writes "In a familiar story relocated into the bizarre world of the Vatican, a whistle-blower who brought to light excessive overpayments on contracts to friendly suppliers was sent to the USA as punishment, and further sources of leaks are now being hunted down by a crack team headed by an 82-year old Opus Dei cardinal. It's just like Wikileaks, only with parchment and quills — probably."
Is Tom Hanks with a weird haircut implicated in all this?
...we need anonymity systems. People who are afraid to report unethical behavior are less likely to report it (shocking!), and whistleblower protections are neither universal nor reliable.
Palm trees and 8
How is this nerd news worthy exactly?
Cue the conspiracy theory loonies and church haters now.
Editors, stay in your lane and post tech news please.
Most of the Catholic-church-secret-agent ones are pretty fun to watch...
Physics is nothing like religion. If it was, we'd have an easier time trying to raise money!
I suspect the Vatican's definition of crack team coincides nicely with Jerry Sandusky's.
Has the Vatican not been wasting vast amounts of gullible people's money on stupid shit for over a millennium?
This is the penguin from Bloom County, right?
When did he become a cardinal???? Last time I heard he was still with Bill the Cat in the band Deathtongue!!!!
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
It has seemed like society has been going down hill as more and more people are dishonest.
Et tu, pope?
Never would have thought having a reputation as a whistle blower in the Catholic church would have been a career killer. Matter of fact I would have thought it would result some serious upward mobility.
'I don't know what it's called. I just know the sound it makes, when it takes a man's life.' ~ Four Leaf Tayback
"Round up all the choir boys, we need to probe them to see if they've ever leaked."
Keep your legs crossed and your mouth shut, expect in the confessional where you can tell us all but no one else. Whats wrong with this picture?
I assure you its more up to date than pens-and-quills. He is one of their dozen astronomers and they have state-of-art observatories around the world .
Must... find... albino... assassin... religionfreak... and... send... him... after... whistleblowers... (Amen?) ------ But seriously, what a weird story this is. Isn't the Vatican supposed to be all about "The Truth Shall Set Thee Free" because, erm, Christian belief mandates it? So what is wrong with a little whistleblowing? Why is someone exposing the truth even a "whistleblower" in this particular case? Very strange story all around...
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
... and nice red uniforms.
I like how banishment to the States has replaced the comfy-chair as the punishment of choice.
Too bad they didnâ(TM)t unleash this hound on the child-rapists theyâ(TM)ve hidden for so long...
Let me clearly state from the outset that I bear no ill will against any individual Catholics who wish to abide by the religion of their choosing. But to look at the long history of the corruption and arrogance of the Catholic hierarchy and not feel completely outraged is to facilitate their wrongdoing.
Just two recent examples: First, the child rape scandal. It was going on for decades, while superior members of the clergy would help cover up the abuse of children by pedophile priests by shuffling them around, colluding with local law enforcement to intimidate families, and paying hush money. To this day they fight the allegations, trying to minimize the impact of what they did and frame their actions as that of a small number of isolated "deviant homosexual" priests, while complaining about paying money to victims that they could be using "for the greater good." They don't talk about making reparations or holding accountable the officials who turned a blind eye or even assisted in the systemic corruption of covering up these atrocities.
Second example: this case. So the Vatican has been shown to be corrupt in its financial dealings, and what is their reaction? Hunt down the whistleblowers, rather than punish the ones doing the actual crime! It's the same kind of thinking--what threatens the Church, in their view, is not the failure to do the morally proper thing. It's whomever exposes their leadership for the arrogant crimes they commit under the guise of being holy.
I don't understand how Catholics can sanctify these dirty old men as the self-appointed leaders of their faith. If that's what your spirit tells you, then maybe you should consider the possibility that you're being held spiritually hostage by these people as a way to further their power, and the reality is that if you truly want to be closer to God, there are far better ways to do that than through these morally bankrupt charlatans.
Only thing more useless than this story is your overused, pointless comment.
Why is it wrong for an entity to "reward" "friendly" suppliers? This isn't like the government collecting mandatory taxes, it's an entity that largely gets it's money from willing donors, they should be able to do whatever they want with the money. If donors don't like it, they can stop donating.
Or do all you slashdotters making fun of religious people's beliefs suddenly care that they're getting ripped off, as if you didn't feel they were getting ripped off all along anyway?
I would think with all the wealth and opulence of the Vatican, if Catholics already didn't feel like they were getting ripped off, then pointing it out is hopeless.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
No, this is Opus Dei, the evil organization in Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code".
So beware, if you see one that's an albino, RUN. Because you've been transported into a shitty novel and you need to escape from that ASAP before your character development gets stilted and the plot takes an absurd twist and the Deus Ex Machina gets layered on thick.
Like they did to Roberto Calvi?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Calvi
"Claims have been made that factors in Calvi's death were the Vatican Bank, Banco Ambrosiano's main shareholder; the Mafia, which may have used Banco Ambrosiano for money laundering; and the Propaganda Due or P2 clandestine Masonic Lodge."
Seriously, a legitimate conspiracy involving Opus Dei, the Mafia, and the Freemasons. The truth is stranger than fiction.
http://www.threemonkeysonline.com/who-killed-roberto-calvi/
100 REM PISS OFF CODE FASCISTS 200 GOTO 100
Who Would Jesus Hunt Down? 'nuff said.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
The Catholic church has been lost for a long time, and this is just a sign it's never going to change. They changed the commandments to suit them for goodness sake! Changed the day of worship to suit them. Hid the bible from their followers because they didn't think their congregation could properly interpret the word of God (and also see the truth). Now in a long list of other atrocities, they banish someone for showing what's going on rather than commending them for helping identify a problem. Sorry if this comes across as an attack, but the Catholic church is scary. I think a lot of the people who are Catholic just don't know any better, and I feel for them.
a whistle-blower... was sent to the USA as punishment
Wow, that's harsh...
... is Dan Brown furiously scribbling notes for his next book.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Could the summary of this article have been any more anti-religious? How is this even "News for Nerds" or, for that matter, News?
"He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
... OR another option for stopping the leaks would be to clean up the corruption that people are revealing. WWJD?
An old fashioned witch hunt, that is.
whistle-blower who brought to light excessive overpayments on contracts to friendly suppliers was sent to the USA as punishment
Now that's just cruel and inhuman.
Maybe they sent him to where they thought he was needed most.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Unfortunately it's no joke.
from WP: ..."
"... Pope John Paul II named Ratzinger as the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the "Sacred Congregaton of the Holy Office", the historical Inquisition.
Wow! The Pope reads Slashdot!!!
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
See it right here!
Torquemada - How we doin', any converts today?
Guards- Not a one, nay nay nay.
Torquemada - We've flattened their fingers, we've branded their buns, nothing is working...send in the nuns!
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
...would let this outfit provide "spiritual guidance" (much less, give money to them) why? The RCC has a centuries long history of misdeeds and corruption. Recent events seem to indicate that they've cleaned up their act only enough to no get themselves lynched. WTF, people? Couldn't you pick a slightly less evil church to provide answers to those questions you're to afraid to answer for yourself?
The inquistion
Let's begin
The inquistion
Look out sin
We have a mission
To convert the Jews
(Jew ja Jew ja Jew ja Jews)
We're gonna teach
Them wrong from right
We're gonna help
Them see the light
And make an offer
That they can't refuse
(That the Jews just can't refuse)
Confess (confess, confess)
Don't be boring
Say yes (say yes, say yes)
Don't be dull
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
further sources of leaks are now being hunted down by a crack team headed by an 82-year old Opus Dei cardinal.
Opus Dei? If they catch the whistleblowers, will they be strangled to death by albino monks?
> Religion is gay.
The gay news aka the good news aka the gospel, sure.
One guy reportedly comes and says I have a good news for you.
They put him to death and his followers go on like: he died and it's all YOUR FAULT. So your suggestion is quite apt but kind of specialized. Try with more universal/generic/devoid of meaning terms.
---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
I don't see how this is related to anything relevant to this site, even with them wedging Wikileaks into the summary.
Even if it isn't news for nerds the fact that such an extreme branch of Christianity is still apparently active and is now censoring people who should be allowed to speak up about the injustices they witness in anonymity does make me classify this article as pertinent to the "stuff that matters" side of things. I for one found myself more interested in this article than the second (of the hundred or so) Bitcoin articles that appeared on the front page.
If you don't like it don't click on it.
Unfortunately, you got bad information. Let's get you started on the basics first: Start here.
It ain't the "Spanish Inquisition" as you and GP were talking about. That particular group is detailed here, and ran independently of the Vatican (it was a pet project of the Spanish crown). Surprisingly, as an institution the Spanish Inquisition lasted into the 19th Century.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Inquisitor
They split up not too long after they changed their name to "Billy and the Boingers". Sad, really.
Kansas governor Sam Brownback is an Opus Dei member and given his staff already monitors Twitter for mean teenaged girls http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/26/1039899/-Gov-Sam-Brownback-s-staff-demands-apology-from-high-school-girl-who-correctly-noted-that-he-sucks, I'm sure he's already on Team Vatican.
God supposedly already knows your sins whether you tell them or not. In fact, he knows them before you even commit the sins, or before you even think of committing them first place. Telling a priest does nothing.
Thus the purpose of confession is so that the Church has the goods on everybody in the community.
Indeed. It is common knowledge that the 10 commandments are recited differently in Catholic churches in order to conveniently leave out the part about graven images. It's also historical that the Church resisted translating the Bible into the vernacular (even after the printing press was invented, which made books far more affordable) and this policy was party responsible for Tyndale's execution.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
The thing that got my attention is that one of the leaked letters discusses "the likely date of Benedict's death." Could that possibly be true? Or is the original article writer just trolling to get a rise out of conspiracy theorists? It is so bizarre, it just might be true.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
You, sir, are obviously an iDiot.
Life, ultimately, boils down to the Four Fs: Fighting, Fleeing, Feeding, and Mating.
Where is Father Guido Sarducci when we need him?
From the article:
'Since then, the Vatican has instead focused on finding out who leaked the letters, which it describes as "biased and trivial".'
Yup, instead of focusing on the problem at hand, or hell, even trying to determine if there really is one, they go looking to punish whoever failed to keep the information under the skirt. Or cassock. Or whatever they call that ugly black dress they wear.
But I guess that's religion for you. Think with your dogma, not your brain, and there is no problem a little reflexive unthinking punishment can't solve.
Life, ultimately, boils down to the Four Fs: Fighting, Fleeing, Feeding, and Mating.
This will be the Italian Inquisition. We should expect it to be much like the Spanish Inquisition, but instead of burning books there will be zapping Blackberries and iPads with staff weapons.
Oh, the humor will be different, too. Less wry; more pratfalls.
Will
They resort to much more earthly means... And since they're an extra-territorial entity in a country with a strong mafia presence, their own bank can play many special tricks to bless money coming from less-than-pious activities.
The Pope is elected.
And thus the Reformation began. Apparently prior to the Reformation it was not even sanctioned for the common people to have bibles they could read for themselves because they might get confused about what it actually says; it was necessary for Rome to tell you what it meant.
Many protestants still don't read the bible themselves and let themselves be led around by the nose by their pastors. However, they do have bibles and could, theoretically, read them. After 1,517 years of not having them, in Christian terms, that counts as huge progress.
If not us, who? If not now, when?
I think your post can be one of two things. Since I'm a charitable sort, I'm going to assume it's very witty and not a simple troll from a 12 year old. Here's why:
A few years ago, I was approached by a customer to create 1500 bumper stickers that said "Gay Guys Suck!". My boss got all squeamish, and was really hesitant to do this, as he didn't want our company to be seen as "anti-gay". I couldn't help but laugh at his discomfort, and went ahead with the job anyway.
The customer that wanted the stickers was a buddy of one of my buddies, and they were intending to hand them out at the gay pride parade in Salt Lake City (which is a surprisingly popular event here). The design was a psychedelic rainbow with black text. Oh, and when I say "buddies" I mean two guys that have been together for 15 years, and attend each and every pride parade, doing something like this each and every year.
The sticker was *designed* to generate a knee-jerk response from people who just don't get it, in a very clever version of "Bwahaha... sometimes you straight folks are so silly when you try not to be awkward..."
Don't always take what people say at seeming face value; sometimes there's a deeper concept you might be missing. The above post could actually be pretty clever, viewed in the right light.
that's unpossible.
Bring out The Comfy Chair!!!!
+1 Disagree
Christians define their god as omniscient and timeless, so there is nothing he doesn't know -- past, present and future. Thus, he already knows what you will choose to do under your free will. If God didn't know, then he wouldn't be omniscient, which would seriously mess with Christian theology.
Reconciling the deity's claimed states of omniscience, omnipotence, timelessness, pure good and pure love with free will, evil, etc., has been a source of absurd twisted logic for quite a long time.
An 82-year old commander of a crack team? Sounds like the "The Walker Brigade"
Poke him with the soft cushions!!
Theoretically, the pope doesn't even have to come from the clergy, though I don't know if it has ever happened that they didn't.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
With 4 year old boys.
Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
Yeah, good documentary...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
He ordered his forces to attack a country without authorization of the UN security council in cohorts with a couple of other high profile war criminals:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq#Preparations_for_war
My dear mom was a devout Catholic and tried to raise me and my sibs that way. I was kicked out of a Catholic school in the first grade. Many bumpy years later at age 13 I was declared a lost cause when I questioned the whole "He has risen" thing at an Easter Catechism Class. All I was there for was the chocolate eggs.
I'm a "civilian" now and glad to have nothing to do with these manipulative crackpots in the Vatican.
Its not the years, its the mileage
Read:
"Uh," you want me to read some unlinked URLs to a book retailer's product pages?
If you're going to tell me to read something, at least give me a working link to a working .torrent or .pdf.
Thank you, Edward Snowden.
"Arguments from authority are worthless." —Carl Sagan
No idea what you talk about.
My Mac can get me laid so I'm not a sexually-frustrated, basement dweller like you.
Yes, but can it get you laid by a girl?
The only accountability that matters is the one at Judgment Day. Until then let's party like it's 999.
Bloody fools.
War criminals like Tony Blair understand that crystal clear hence the conversion to catholicism.
The Inquisition 2.0 is about to start, film at 11.
The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.
Hmm... so what you're saying is: sufficiently nested irony is indistinguishable from a 12-year-old's humour? Okay.
This will be the Italian Inquisition. We should expect it to be much like the Spanish Inquisition, but instead of burning books there will be zapping Blackberries and iPads with staff weapons.
Oh, the humor will be different, too. Less wry; more pratfalls.
Plus, the uniforms will be cooler.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
The church used to excommunicate them, and send them to hell. Now, Hell isn't scary enough. They have motorbikes in Hell if you believe in Meatloaf. So they threaten sinners with the US. The first circle of virtuous pagans go to Washington. The patricides and regicides go to... Detroit.
Nah... more that 12-year-old humor (or, rather, insults) are so prevalent that we've decided it's not worth looking deeper for nested irony. I do like the term "sufficiently nested irony", though. Beauty.
Every government is by definition dependent on people at the very least not openly fighting it. That doesn't mean that they have any say. In the middle ages, divine right and feudalism were widely accepted and at the very least tolerated by the majority. But this majority had by no means any say in how government acts or how, let alone by whom, they want to be governed. Was it any less legitimate than our modern democracies? Objectively, no. Subjectively, we might disagree and argue that divine right is unacceptable for us and that we do not accept this kind of legitimation.
But governments are by their very definition dependent on the acceptance of those ruled and governed. Else their power is pretty close to mine when I choose to issue a law. I guess nobody will really care too much if I make eating candy a crime punishable by hanging. And if I should act upon said law, people will come and haul me to jail. Because I have no legitimation to do that.
So technically, yes, the legitimation of governments is, in the end, dependent on its subjects acceptance of said legitimation. That does not mean, though, that they have any say in the government. Only that they have to accept the legitimation it is based on. As people who grew up in a democratic society, it seems maybe odd to us to accept anything less than a democracy as a legitimate form of government, but maybe in 500 years people will wonder how we could tolerate people making decisions for us instead of making them ourselves, and how we could even fathom this to be any kind of legitimation, just because every four or so years we get to choose someone else to act as our "king".
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.