Preach water, drink wine!

Pope Franciscus.

I am beginning to like this man.

He has a tendency to call a spade a spade.

Most recently he spoke of the hypocrisy within the Catholic Church.

Among several comments along this line he said this:

“These hypocrites among us preach water and themselves they drink wine.”

Did he speak of the Clergy of his Church?

Did he speak of those Bishops and Cardinals who preach modesty and moderation, while they live a life of show-off luxury and abundance?

Did he, by any chance, speak of those Priests who demand sexual purity from their flock, while they bed their “housekeepers” or any other female with whom they might successfully copulate? 

Or did he have in mind general members of his church who profess to follow the teachings of their Master, Jesus Christ, go to Church every Sunday, confess their sins frequently, partake of communion as often, and ostentatiously put paper money into the collection box, all the while, making sure their neighbors note this generous conduct, while in their life outside the religious confines they break the marriage vow every chance they get, cheat their business partners, force their employees to work for a meager pay and in a general way behave like the predators they are.

In any event, Pope Franciscus called them out.

He challenged them to act like they preach. To make their actions conform with their pretense.

I fear, however, that this is a vain challenge.

The human is what evolution has made him to be, but Religion pretends that it can make him into something else.

Bertstravels