Fighting against corruption is a major theme of Pope Francis, he even considers it a greater evil than sin. “Corruptionis a greater evil than sin”, and more than “be forgiven, must be cured”. Father Ray Blake, however, wonders about the example of the Vatican when it comes to fighting corruption:
Go here to read the rest. Corruption of course is not greater than sin, but is merely one of the infinite forms than sin can take. Being against corruption in one’s enemies while winking at it among one’s friends and allies is another form that sin can take.
What should we expect from an Argentinian leader?
And…. “so much has been swept under the carpet”. Amen
Can we admit then that the Holy Spirit through the good Pope Francis has aroused our sense of sin and the corruption it has produced among us to where we dare now speak of it in the open and begin our repentance seeking in humility to restore order, bind our wounds, and repair the damage for those of us who chose to remain as sorrowful sinners with trust in God’s mercy in preparation for the coming of the Master of the House? Praise God and let the cleansing begin!
Sin is the incurable disease (apart from Christ)…and ‘corruption’ is just one symptom of the disease.
“Can we admit then that the Holy Spirit through the good Pope Francis has aroused our sense of sin…”
I think the Holy Spirit is working though as God often does. That is, in spite of rather than because of Francis. Unfortunately, a man who thinks “corruption” is worse than sin is not arousing a sense of sin but numbing us to it.
Corruption is indeed an evil, but an evil greater than sin? How does that even make sense? Corruption is either itself a sin or a consequence of sin, but either way I cannot make sense of the Holy Father’s statement. I think those of us encumbered by linear thinking are going to struggle with this papacy.
I think those of us encumbered by thinking are struggling with this papacy.
Yes to the post and the comments here. In my way of phrasing it, corruption (death, decay) is the result of sin. First Chapter Joshua tires to prepare the people for battle that will be ongoing and warns (verse 7) against turning to the right or to the left. God is working and is triumphant, may we do and be the same in HIs Name.
Mike Petrik wrote, “Corruption is either itself a sin or a consequence of sin”
But also the cause of it, as when St Prosper of Aquitaine, preaching against the Semi-Pelagians, speaks of that corruption of our nature, whereby man is very far gone from his original righteousness and which works in the children of disobedience. “Works,” as in yeast, for he goes on to quote our Lord’s words in Mark 8:15, when he warns His disciples to “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod” and, again, in Luke 12:1, where He warns them, “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”
Like St Augustine, St Prosper insists that we sin because we are corrupt and cite Jeremiah, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (17:9-10} and Genesis, “for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (8:21)
Corruption occurs on many levels. Corruption of an organization’s ideals and beliefs reflects the corruption of the individuals. Witness the disintegration of our US Jesuit colleges and universities — for example, Loyola Chicago recently granted status to a pagan religious group, in their Gaudium-et-Spes love of all things non-Catholic:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/10/23/Jesuits-Recognize-Pagan-Group
Perhaps for a leftist, for whom God is government, for whom having the right men at the controls of government can bring about heaven on earth for ALL men, i.e. the material salvation of all,
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corruption (of the men in power in government) is the ONLY sin worth the name. It is the sin against good government.
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So the Pope’s comment seems to be of a piece with his other exhortations directed at governments to be good.
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Always a good time to re-read of Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor.
From the Pope’s chat with Jurists, “The criminal sanction is selective. It is like a net that captures only the small fish leaving the big fish to swim free in the ocean. The forms of corruption that must be persecuted with greatest severity are those that cause grave social damage, both in economic and social questions – for example grave fraud against public administration or the dishonest use of administration.”
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If administrations were smaller, maybe they could cause less damage.
Good God Almighty … we have people lining up to whip a man for attempting good? Is there no stop or shame in these efforts?
What man would that be?