Vatican calls for central world bank

Ken Hechtman writes:

The pope supports the Tobin Tax

The Vatican called on Monday for the establishment of a “global public authority” and a “central world bank” to rule over financial institutions that have become outdated and often ineffective in dealing fairly with crises.

The document from the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department should please the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn.”Toward Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority,” was at times very specific, calling, for example, for taxation measures on financial transactions.

Here’s the full text.

Even John Paul II never went this far. If the pope keeps this up the left will have to stop calling him “Pope Rat” and “Herr Panzerpapst.”

LA replies:

You guys on the left have it made now! The Catholic Church has joined you in wanting to create a secular global government—right out of a score of novels and movies about the anti-Christ, based on the Book of Revelation. See, for example, The Lord of the World.

- end of initial entry -

Ken Hechtman replies:

I hadn’t heard of “Lord of the World” but it looks interesting. I’ll check it out.

I was a big fan of the Omen series when I was a kid. I’m probably the only guy left who still has Omen IV and Omen V in paperback.

LA replies:

The Lord of the World is not contemporary—it’s a novel from the early 20th century. It’s pretty good. I forget the author’s name. Benson I think. I mentioned it because I remembered the title. But the basic plot is very similar to various contemporary Christian novels and movies based on the Book of Revelation. The basic plot is always about the anti-Christ, a secular political figure who takes over the world claiming to save the world.

I don’t offhand remember if the Book of Revelation-based movies I’ve seen feature the Catholic Church as part of the anti-Christ’s team, but I think some of them do.

Ken Hechtman replies:

It’s from 1908.

The political background of the time is anti-Anglican, anti-Catholic and anti-aristocrat Lloyd-George rising through the cabinet and laying the foundation of the British welfare state. The religious background is Pope Pius X fighting a doomed holding action against Modernism. I’ve been reading about both fairly recently so your recommendation couldn’t have come at a better time.

Ken Hechtman writes (having evidently read the book within a half-day of our previous exchange):

I was impressed with Lord of the World. There are parts of it that ring true enough. It’s hard to remember it’s over 100 years old. The description of the Euthanasia Hospices and more generally how atheists deal with death in the family is surprisingly accurate. The gnostic meditation scene is very well done. I have to wonder how a Catholic priest captured it that well. I know that there was something of a neo-gnostic revival going on in London in 1908. The Golden Dawn and the Rosicrusian Society and the OTO were part of the background of the time if you knew where to look. I wonder if Benson was familiar with them.

Timothy A. writes:

Why doesn’t the Vatican just save the time and expense of doing these studies and just refer anyone who is interested in their stance on a policy issue to the platform of the French Socialist party? The recommendations are usually indistinguishable.

LA replies:

Are you saying that the Vatican is to the French Socialist Party what American Judaism is to the Democratic Party?

Timothy A. replies:

Unfortunately, on most issues, yes. See: Iraq War, Immigration, Capital Punishment, Global Economics, Global Warming, etc.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at October 25, 2011 03:24 PM | Send