Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/01/14/rome-and-the-catholic-church-f.html
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Late stage capitalism in a nutshell: cash-strapped charities and municipalities reduced to squabbling over literal loose change while corporations and billionaires go essentially untaxed.
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Most of my dispensable coins get tossed at the local gin mill.
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Don’t tell us what you wished or it won’t come true!
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The Pope: Yeah, but you know what? This one, this one right here, this was my dream, my wish, and it didn’t come true. So I’m takin’ it back. I’m takin’ 'em all back.
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Aaaah, Devil’s post!!
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Wait, I think I’ve heard this one before. Is the punchline “…we throw all the money up in the air and what He wants, He keeps!”
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Was it this one?
OR this one?
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I think the city has a better claim, but tradition is a bitch.
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Not precisely how I’d characterise the catholic church…
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To increase your odds, toss in Thoughts & Prayers instead.
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Wow, geez. That’s 25% of Caritas’ total revenue, according to Charity Navigator.
On the other hand, I’m not in favor of denying a cash-strapped municipality its revenue, either. And Rome’s infrastructure bears the brunt of the tourist tsunami filling that fountain with coins.
The Catholic Church could cover Caritas’ revenue shortfall without batting an eye.
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Would really not be surprised if One Eyed Willie’s treasure existed in a sealed Vatican vault.
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That much money in small change, wonder how large the pile of coins is if you put it all in one place.
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I lack the skills to add a papal mitre on Scrooge McDuck 
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It’s not the Vatican that’s taking the money, it’s Caritas. If the situation in Italy is anything like that in the US, Caritas’s budget is 1-2% of the budget of the Church as a whole. And less than 0.1% came from the Catholic Church itself, the rest coming from donations directly to Caritas.
ETA: and I would put the Vatican in the category of wealthy multinational corporations that evade paying any taxes.
ETA2: Arrgh, fixed second link to point to original source. The link I posted mixed up the US catholic church with the worldwide catholic church and deserves no attention.
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Wrong Caritas. Not sure of the operating budget of Caritas Italiana, but it’s probably somewhere on the second link if you can read Italian.
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If people toss their coins with the expectation that the proceeds will go to the poor and they instead go to infrastructure, I’m not sure the city has the moral high ground, though I take your meaning that the fountain belongs to the city.
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City councillors have approved the change
ICWYDT
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