Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 4:39am

PopeWatch: Send the Bill to the Vatican

This gang is beyond parody:

 

A cardinal and aide to Pope Francis for charitable missions climbed down a manhole to restore power to hundreds of people, including children, who were living without electricity and hot water for days in a Rome building, according to local reports.

In defiance to authorities, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski said he intervened personally Saturday evening to switch the meters back on for about 450 people, including 100 minors, who live in an abandoned state-owned building, according to ANSA news agency.
“It was a desperate gesture,” Krajewski, who is Vatican almoner and Francis’ “charitable arm” told ANSA. “There were over 400 people without electricity — families, children — without even the chance to run the refrigerators.”
“I didn’t do it because I was drunk,” he added.
Cardinal Krajewski confirmed to CNN he did switch the grid back on himself.
Activists from the Spin Time Labs collective have occupied the building since 2013, providing shelter for homeless families but also a tavern, a theater, a craft beer laboratory, a carpentry shop, a music rehearsal studio, and various social activities.
The power was cut on May 6 after they accumulated a debt of €300,000 (£260,000 or $337,000), according to ANSA.
Go here to read the rest.  Since when did it become part of Catholicism to do good by having someone else pick up the tab?  PopeWatch wishes the Cardinal had been drunk.
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OrdinaryCatholic
OrdinaryCatholic
Tuesday, May 14, AD 2019 6:01am

Charity does not begin with the theft of another’s money or without the consent of the robbed. It sounds a lot like Bill Clinton’s tax=contributions.

David WS
David WS
Tuesday, May 14, AD 2019 6:09am

People always have this strange idea that electricity is free.

Ezabelle
Ezabelle
Tuesday, May 14, AD 2019 6:35am

I wouldn’t normally say this or believe this, but not withstanding the Cardinals thirst for publicity over this- I can’t help but feel there are rare occasions where it’s ok to break our political mindset such as giving free electricity to some 400 poor people because there were minors and perhaps elderly people there. Sometimes there isn’t any other solution. It’s either that or make them live in darkness. It’s not ideal, but your conscience would hound you.

OrdinaryCatholic
OrdinaryCatholic
Tuesday, May 14, AD 2019 6:56am

Of course your right Ezabelle but if the Archdiocese of Rome cannot pay the power bill for 400+ poor people without breaking the law as the Cardinal did, then another investigation into ought to be started, this time into the finances of the Archdiocese of Rome.

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Tuesday, May 14, AD 2019 7:59am

Solor panels covering the dome of St. Peter’s. Maybe a few wind turbines on top of the seven hills. Pope Francis will rush in Green Hornet style.
Not before blaming capitalism of course.

Foxfier
Admin
Tuesday, May 14, AD 2019 11:31am

Ezabelle-
please note how after using the 400 poor as a shield, it’s mentioned at the end that for six years it’s been used without permission by activists who are running a rent (And apparently utility charge) free economic center.

That usually means that there are just enough actually innocent (or fairly so) folks involved to be good for the cameras, and it’s long-term users for the rest.

This is a sadly common pattern when you’ll read stories about people being “forbidden from feeding the poor.”
Dig enough and you find out they have been setting up their stations to Make A Statement, either by channeling the homeless through business areas (either their competitors or a hated target, often ‘the rich’) or by off-loading the costs associated with their activities like garbage clean-up or transportation on to those who, in the minds of the activists, have “enough” and thus shouldn’t be allowed to object.

In contrast, one of the houses we looked at way back in Washington went off of our list because a group did it right— they bought a house in a horrible, crime-filled area, and fixed it up to serve the homeless and help them get out. Apparently chosen because it was a very popular home of record for parolees.
They bought the building, they paid for the power, they did the labor, and in the process not just helped those they were helping out of their own pocket but improved the area. (Not enough for us to buy the house when we had three small children and another on the way, but enough that there were houses being fixed up and sold, rather than simply abandoned to the rats.)

Foxfier
Admin
Tuesday, May 14, AD 2019 11:40am

In March, they hosted a rather large rave, which may have been the last straw.

They haven’t paid any bills since they took over the place six years ago.
This isn’t one of those “you missed a bill, so rot in the dark” situations.

Foxfier
Admin
Tuesday, May 14, AD 2019 11:44am

http://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/cronaca/2019/05/12/elemosiniere-papa-riattiva-corrente-a-stabile-occupato-_1c1f560b-da51-4e9e-8246-5959cb8b11cc.html
(Chrome’s auto-translate was coherent)
https://twitter.com/SpinTimeLabs
(rather less coherent, but that might be the activsts)
Appears that they’re now talking about maybe being willing to pay the power bills…at least going forward.

Ezabelle
Ezabelle
Tuesday, May 14, AD 2019 3:18pm

“another investigation into ought to be started, this time into the finances of the Archdiocese of Rome.” The Cardinal who was assigned to doing this is now awaiting appeal for “child sex abuse”. How convenient for the Vatican.

Thanks for the clarification re: politics of the situation- it’s a difficult one, turning off the electricity still didn’t get them out of there though.

Foxfier
Admin
Tuesday, May 14, AD 2019 5:39pm

In no small part because they had local, official support.

Tom Byrne
Tom Byrne
Tuesday, May 14, AD 2019 8:20pm

And if our amateur Mr. Edison had started a fire or blown a neighborhood powerbox what would the reaction have been? Household voltage in Italy is 220/240 AC, I believe.

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