And Jesus Said: "Call No Man Your Father"

I have a bit of a fetish.

Whenever I come across a calendar where the month is wrong, at the barber, or in a bank or a school say it's June and the one on the wall still proclaims May I either inform them of their tardiness or get up and rectify the situation myself, turning the page and bringing us into the present, bang up to date. I don't know why, but it gives me a feeling of satisfaction.

So it was with great difficulty that I managed to suppress the urge to point out to Father Vinander that afternoon years ago, as I bade farewell to him and the brothers of the Calcutta Missionaries of Charity, that the picture of Pope Paul V1 on the wall of his office was way out of date. Since his death there'd been another Pope John Paul the First, who only lasted 33 days before being found dead in his bed by a nun; and that he'd been replaced by the present incumbent, Polish John Paul the Second, the first non-Italian pope since 1542.

I resisted the temptation to point out the picture needed changing the deaths and takeovers had all been very sudden and I'm sure he'd catch up - but as I traveled back overland from India to England by bus I had time to ponder popes and their power over people born to obey them. Somehow, luckily, after a lifetime of fear and thrall I had managed to free myself from the unquestioning obedience demanded by the Church, and gradually over the years since then, looking at it objectively, I've come to find it very questionable indeed.

It seems to me now that the Roman Catholic Church, the Holy See, contradicts the instructions of Jesus in very many instances. According to Matthew, Jesus said "Call no man your father on earth", and yet you've got these men of the church swishing around in long skirts, all telling their 'flock' to address them as "father'.

Jesus also said "No one is good but one - God." And yet the Pope is called the 'Holy Father'--double whammy sin!

On prayer, Jesus said:

"And when ye pray thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are for they love to stand praying-- that they may be seen of men. But when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and shut thy door, and pray to thy Father which is in secret--" and "But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking--"

But the Church with its elaborate Masses and chanted repetitious litanies goes against this simple advice of the Master.

Again, he says: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth-- but lay up for yourselves treasures in n heaven For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. - Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

And yet the Vatican has billions of dollars in solid gold in its coffers, mostly stored in bullion with the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank; the rest in bank accounts in London and Zurich, Switzerland.

With all of its assets added together, the Church possesses more riches in real estate, property, stocks and shares than any other single institution, corporation, bank, government or state, making the Pope, the official rulerof this vast reserve, the richest man in modern history.

The U.N. World Food Summit estimates $150 billion a year could significantly eradicate world hunger.

Instead of making proclamations on such "issues" such as the sanctity of marriage and so-called family values, the pope and his church should regain the true Christian mission of charity. Imagine the sweeping effect to cure hunger and sickness around the world of a Church founded on genuine goodwill, not human hypocrisy.

But it's too late now for Pope John Paul 2, who has finally shuffled off his mortal coil. So, while the media is at its sickening feeding-frenzy orgy of eulogies and sycophancy, let's grieve over the dead billionaire and praise his homophobic successor on the Vatican throne.