An Unholy Corporate Entity Pt1

TimeWatch Editorial
January 28, 2016

Avro Manhattan was born in Milan, Italy on April 6, 1914 to Jewish parents. One of the institutions of learning he attended was the London School of Economics. Early in life, he developed an activist persona. This was demonstrated by his refusal to serve in Mussolini’s fascist army, for which he was jailed. He was such a determined activist that during the war, the Second World War, he operated a broadcast facility called “Radio Freedom.” His broadcast reached the nations occupied by the Axis Powers of Germany, Japan and Italy. But Avro Manhattan didn’t stop there. His many talents included the ability to dig deeply into the annals of history, and record the results of his research in the many books that he authored. Some of his friends included H G Wells, Pablo Picasso, George Bernard Shaw and scientist Marie Stopes.

One of his well known books was published in 1983. The name of that book was “The Vatican Billions.” Avro Manhattan begins the first chapter of that book this way.

“Jesus, the founder of Christianity, was the poorest of the poor. Roman Catholicism, which claims to be His church, is the richest of the rich, the wealthiest institution on earth.”

“How come, that such an institution, ruling in the name of this same itinerant preacher, whose want was such that he had not even a pillow upon which to rest his head, is now so top-heavy with riches that she can rival - indeed, that she can put to shame - the combined might of the most redoubtable financial trusts, of the most potent industrial super-giants, and of the most prosperous global corporation of the world?” Avro Manhattan, “The Vatican Billions”

Great question isn’t it? A careful reading of the book delivers the answer. The Papacy is obviously more concerned about the accumulation and the expansion of wealth than the pretense of Holiness. The extreme effort to suppress any inquiry into the wealth of this global institution is always its first concern. Avro Manhattan describes with chilling accuracy the financial attitudes that existed during the first centuries of Christianity.

“The early Christians, following upon the example of the Apostles and the first and second generations of Christ’s disciples, upon conversion obeyed Christ’s commandment to the letter and disposed of their possessions. These they either sold or gave to the Christian community, the latter using them for communal benefit, so that all members would partake of them in equal portion. There was no personal attachment as yet to riches thus used, either on the part of the single Christian individual or for any autonomous Christian nucleus. The ownership, possession and enjoyment of any wealth was anonymous, impersonal and collective. There was also the help of the poor, of the slaves, of the sick and of the prisoners. During the first and second centuries the early Christians, by acting in this manner, retained the innocence of the apostolic tradition; and even during the third, although the Church’s wealth had already become substantial, she managed to act in harmony with Christ’s injunction about poverty.” Avro Manhattan, “The Vatican Billions”

But as the Papacy rose to prominence, the apostolic attitude disappeared and was replaced by a brand of greed that surpassed even the depraved lusts of a secular world. This is how our writer puts it.

“It was thus that the apostolic tradition of poverty was eventually abandoned. There was nothing contradictory, so the argument ran, in Christians retaining earthly riches so long as these were used in the “service of religion.” The argument seemed a sound one to the individuals, particularly since Christianity had “turned respectable.” The Roman Catholic Church thus gradually became the custodian of wealth passed on to her by her sons, acting as its distributor and administrator.” Avro Manhattan, “The Vatican Billions”

The wealthy were persuaded that if they left their property to the church, this would guarantee that their stay in purgatory would be brief. They were also told that they could buy their relatives out of purgatory and pay for forgiveness in advance of the sin they were about to commit. If fact, heaven was available as long you had enough money or property to exchange for it. As expansive as this might sound, this was merely the beginning.

We will continue in our next editorial.

Cameron A. Bowen