In the media’s tsunami of papal coverage, I think more about the Catholic church. True, there are priests who are men of genuine compassion and remarkable altruism, more dedicated to humanity than to any dogma or institution. While I shouldn’t have anything against people like them, I have quite a lot against the institution they belong. The priesthood of the church had set themselves up as a special class of men who are the only messen- gers between God and ordinary men and women and they used this power with fearsome effect. The teachings of Jesus have nothing to do with the arrogant roleplay of this hierarchy.

The Roman Catholic Church is a worldwide organization with enormous financial resources, with a network of charities and agencies that provide crucial help to the downtrodden, and with parishes in which the prayerful nurture their relationship with God. And the pope is its CEO, ultimately responsible for where the money flows and for the placement and policing of its staff. The church is a corporation and like all corporations, it's goal is to thrive and prosper. However, the church does not sell a tangible product, rather it sells a particular life philosophy, namely eternal happiness in heaven. In the alternative, it threatens hell to those who do not conform, who do not pay dues to it and accept it's authority without question. The hook has worked for two thousand years, and has made the church the greatest corporation in the history of the world. It is obviously a mafia-type orga- nization: there is the same rigid hierarchy, the demand for unquestioning obedience, the code of silence and the secrecy in its finances.