Pope Francis has delivered a fiery sermon against
corruption, quoting a passage from the Bible in which Jesus said some
sinners deserved to be tied to a rock and thrown into the sea.
In one of his strongest homilies since he was elected in March,
the Pontiff said Christians who led "a double life" by giving money to
the church while stealing from the state were sinners who deserved to be
punished.
Quoting from the Gospel of St Luke in the New
Testament, he said: "Jesus says it would be better for him if a
millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea."
While he did not allude directly to corruption within the Roman Catholic Church,
his remarks yesterday came just days after a scandal erupted inside an
ancient religious order linked to the Vatican, and as he forged ahead
with a determined effort to root out cronyism within the Holy See and
financial irregularities in the scandal-tainted Vatican bank.
The
Pope described people engaged in corruption as "whitewashed tombs",
explaining that "they appear beautiful from the outside, but inside they
are full of dead bones and putrefaction". A life based on corruption
was "varnished putrefaction", he said.
STERN
The
Pope may have been hailed for adopting a softer, more inclusive stance
on sensitive subjects such as homosexuality and divorce since his
election in March, but his sermons and homilies often include stern,
fire-and-brimstone language and references to the Devil.
The Pope
made the remarks during his daily morning Mass inside Casa Santa Marta,
the Vatican guesthouse.
It was the second time in just a few days that
he had targeted the evils of corruption.
Last Friday he had strong
words for Catholics who grew wealthy from graft and used tainted money
to shower their children with gifts and send them to expensive schools.
"Those who take kickbacks have lost their dignity and give their
children dirty bread," he said.