Pope says Church doesn’t want people to donate ‘dirty money’March 2, 2016 - 16:26 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Catholic Church does not want people to donate "dirty money" earned by abusing low-paid workers, Pope Francis said on Wednesday, March 2, according to Reuters. "Some donors come to the Church offering profits from the blood of people who have been exploited, mistreated, enslaved with badly paid work," Francis said during his regular weekly audience with pilgrims at the Vatican. "I will say to them: 'Please take your money away, burn it'," said Francis, who has made safeguarding the poor and cleaning up Vatican finances central tenets of his papacy. "The people of God... do not need dirty money, they need hearts that are open to God's mercy," he said. The pope has branded money "the dung of the devil" and condemned the evils of unbridled capitalism, prompting criticism from some U.S. business leaders. Francis has increased the power of the Vatican's financial intelligence authority (AIF) but the European finance watchdog Moneyval said last year the Holy See still needed to be much more aggressive in prosecuting financial crimes. Related links: Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Welcome to CaseKey 2024. Byblos Bank Armenia firmly stands by future innovators Strategic business cases, invaluable experience, innovative approaches and more than 25 events are in store for the participants of CaseKey 2024. Macron honors Charles Aznavour on 100th anniversary French President Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to the memory of French-Armenian crooner Charles Aznavour. Blinken says U.S. reviewing a number of aid requests from Armenia He said the U.S. is reviewing the requests to determine what more it can do to increase its assistance to Armenia. At least 2 CSTO members participated in preparing 44-day war against Armenia – PM Nikol Pashinyan has declared that at least two CSTO member countries participated in preparations for the 44-day war against Armenia. |