Day 278: Pope Benedict XVI, flying off like a True Pilgrim

28th February 2013.

Pope Benedict XVI leaves the Vatican for Castel Gandolfo, the no less palatial Papal residence which is situated about 30 km from Rome and is part of the Vatican State -although not adjacent-, another one of the many Vatican owned properties that will host him as a scholar and a "pilgrim" in his post-papal times. 

This is a temporary choice, once the refurbishment of the 4 storey nunnery behind St Peters will be finished, he will move there, it wasn't difficult to choose a place for him to stay being the Vatican is the 1st property owner in The World.

Given the enormous distance to cover, the Pope, understandably, used an helicopter to reach Castel Gandolfo, which is provided by the Italian State -free of charge- for him and the head of State for official missions, those carried out on behalf of the People, such as retiring from Papal duty to become a Pilgrim (?).

A Pilgrim??

The Pope will NOT be your usual retiree, "he will get 2,500 euros a month as pocket money even though the Vatican official spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said last week that the Pope would want for nothing.

"We will ensure he can live a dignified existence," he said.

It is unclear what Benedict might need to spend the money on. The former nunnery is a grace-and-favour residence inside the Vatican, and he will not have to pay rent.

His meals and daily living expenses will also be paid for by Vatican state finances, and cooking and cleaning will be done by a group of four women from a Catholic organization called "Memores Domini."

He will take his piano, his pets and personal belongings, he won't have access to the Fancy Closet he once cherished that gave him the title of 'Prada pope', but we can say his future is guaranteed, he will have nothing to worry about, unlike 1/3 of the world and growing who struggle to make ends meet and whose choices are limited by the amount of Money they have access to.

So, why does The Pope get to 'want for nothing' and the rest of the World is left wanting for the essential?

The fate of Benedict, once dubbed the "Prada Pope" for his taste in fine red loafers and haute-couture vestments, will be very different, although Church officials seem still themselves to be working out just what his new life in cloisters will be.

His initial departure from the grand papal apartments in the 16th-century Apostolic Palace, where he has spent eight years with a staff of clerical secretaries, including priests and nuns, a butler and other domestic staff, will be for the no less palatial surroundings of the historic summer residence of popes at Castel Gandolfo, on a lake in the hills south of Rome.

Strange timing about the Pope leaving and the documentary about Vatican Pedophiles cover up coming out in March, Mea Culpa, in the documentary they affirm that no one like the Pope knew better of the abuses of the church since he was in charge of the Child Abuse investigations prior to becoming Pope. 

Strange as well that after all the secular cover ups of Child Molestations, he should have taken a stand against Cardinal Keith O'Brien to step down and NOT participate in the Conclave for the election of the next Pope, what was his fault after all, had he not followed the Church indications to deny, deny, deny?

And then for denying the anonymous allegation against him for sexual misconduct, because they were anonymous, not because they were not true, he was asked to step down, SHAME.

For the exit of the Pope in true Pilgrim style, the Vatican Inc. set up an elaborate display of power and pompousness, 

"How do you invent a ritual for the pope leaving the Vatican and the pope leaving office? That's new for us. But it had to happen," said Rev. Jeremy Driscoll, a theologian at the Pontifical Athenaeum Sant'Anselmo in Rome.

the Swiss Army was lined up, everyone was wearing their Sunday attires and we made sure to imprint the new generations to come with this Idea, that the Vatican is the Holy See, the Holy Seat as we say in Italian, the seat of the power of God on Earth, A Special Place run by Special Men.

It's important to stick to the story, if we let it go, we would have to ask ourselves how did we accept and allow Famine and Poverty in the face of a Wealth and Abundance that could have fed the world.

Isn't it a big price to pay just to give up self responsibility? 

Making the Vatican responsible for our Life and AfterLife and one of our excuses to not stand up for the Whole as One, a responsibility that they happily took together with the World's Wealth and Privileges that come to those who -apparently- are more important, more Value-able than others.

If we had not looked for excuses to our Creation, the Vatican wouldn't even exist, it stands and will stand as The Powerful Reminder that we can't have our cake and eat it, if we are the sinner we accept to be, just so we can continue sinning and don't have to change, we give up all our power to others to use it as they see fit, and look, they didn't see fit to take care of the world, yes, just like us, what a wake up call, isn't it?

The Vatican has been closed for 3 days, sealed, there was no Angelus this Sunday, everyone still alive? YES, it made no difference whatsoever if not to the Vatican shops that have not been able to sell their souvenirs, nothing of value is coming from the Vatican or it has ever come from there, look around, the world's devolution is Here for everyone to see.

The words of Jesus don't live in the Vatican, they must be lived.

To give to another what we would like to receive  would mean to make sure everyone has enough for a dignified life, dressing people in 'Alice in Wonderland's' clothes, doesn't make the World a Wonder-land, it should be clear by now, it does  make it the Land of WONDER Why, we haven't taken care of each others and instead opted to keep in place a system that works just for few to the detriment of the many in fear of our Self responsibility and of facing our Creation for what it is, a place of Inequality and Disconnection that needs correction, Our Own Correction to realign to What is Best for All vs What is best for Me.

Many liked Jesus and saw that what he said was cool, we can make his Words live, As Us, standing for a system change that will benefit All Equally, giving as we would like to receive.

Stand for the Life of All @ EqualMoney,  we don't need funny dressed Characters to remind us what we have to do, we know what we have to do, we need to 'Just Do It', making the "Here" Heaven on Earth for All instead of following promises of a happier AfterHere by those who live the happiest Here as Heaven on Earth just for themselves.

Join us, cast your vote for Life @ Equal Money.

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Day 218: Christmas Time, Spreading the Seeds of Evil Brainwashing

(Day 217 walked privately)

When I was a kid I was told that presents were delivered by baby Jesus, yes, the Catholics highjacked Santa for their own brainwashing purposes, creating 'credits' in the Mind of kids so they could TIE them into a belief system of 'rewards' either earthly -Christmas- or in the AfterLife. Imagine that, the Catholics found ways to take on the "credits" of the parents without spending a cent. Hats off?

As kids grow up and try to make sense of the world at large, including the logistic of such a complex system, we fill their heads with lies that don't make any sense. 

If it's hard to believe the story of a fat old man on a sleight making all those deliveries in one night, entering from chimneys in places that never had one, imagine believing an infant taking on the task, who  is NOT technically yet born, according to our nativity sets, as baby Jesus appears in the manger on the night of the 24th according to 'Tradition'.

We fail to see how we grow up to be demented adults with no common sense, because we lost the threads to the origin of our mental cacophonies, if we have to believe that such an amount of deliveries can take place in ONE night with just One Sleight by an Old fat man, anything else that comes after sold to us as Truth it's a piece of cake to take on board.

Like the story of Money, worthless pieces of paper that we accepted and allowed to become more important than Life itself, that nowadays decide if one has access to vital resources or not, that determine the value of LIFE making some Lives more worthy than others but hei, we believed in Santa and a plastic baby Jesus to be in charge of the Consumerism of Christmas night, so what would stop us now from believing anything else, like that the Vatican for example has the interest of the people at heart? 

Just for the record, the Vatican owns 85% of the luxury property market in Rome, they don't pay taxes because Mussolini agreed that if they stopped mingling into the politics of Italy, he would give them their own State, which he did, in the middle of Rome, one step you are in Rome then take a step over an imaginary line and you are inside the Vatican City/State.

Every Christmas when the temperatures go down, the Vatican doesn't keep the Churches open at night or house the homeless in their empty apartments, because those apartments are too luxurious for poor peasants and since their lives are worth less than others due to their less-ness in how much MONEY they own, they can stay outside and freeze to death. 

They will go to Heaven for not having troubled the Vatican and their Temporary Powers, it's a Promise.

Meanwhile huge nativity sets to make sure the story keeps being repeated and imprinted into people's Minds are set up, big enough to house the homeless, but we wouldn't wants Sacred Statues to mingle and be contaminated by Poor Bastards, would we? Right on track with the teachings of Jesus.

Basically, Christmas is the time in which we should all become more 'good', this begs the question if we are good at all if we celebrate 1 day of GOODNESS a year, a day in which apparently becoming good means BUYING something for someone. 

Really, what is it that prevents us from seeing we are being duped and then duping ourselves from birth to death, brainwashed into fear, shame, blame and then into blaming each others so we won't have to feel the shame for how we participate in this world, for how we close our eyes even at Christmas and allow so many to go hungry and homeless while we set up lights and trees in our living rooms to celebrate the birth of a man that said that we should love and take care of one another. 

Anything not right with this pictures, the picture of us eating way more than we need because Christmas is special, buying useless things to celebrate people we dislike just to secure our place within this system and our own survival within it, because inside we know that this world has turned into a dangerous vile place as the consequence of our own abdication of responsibility, our greed and self interest, we just don't have the guts to stand up, and so we get together with billions of others who also don't  and pretend that for one day, one night, we are All really Good and Holy.

Let's Wake up to face the ugliness of this world and stand united in Self responsibility for Life and all living beings for a real overall system change Change and to build a world that works for All. 

Stand for Life, cast your Vote at #EqualMoney