Miss Piggy has a synchronized swimming scene in The Great Muppet Caper so I groundlessly assume that this is how it got into the Olympics.
I am in the last week or two of the Ancient Greek 101 class and it has been fun. If someone wants to be talked into it I am here to talk you into it (unless you have literally no free time, because in addition to the synchronous weekly class (which was scheduled according to when I was free; amazing), you do need to commit some time daily. People who comment on the internet, however, have free time, perhaps too much free time; who can say?)
I like Ed's idea of US regions raising funds for specific dicasteries in a competitive appeal, where we are told where the money is going and what it gets used for; it could be combined with an exhortation to pray for the works of that dicastery and for the holiness of its personnel.
"US regions raising funds for specific dicasteries in a competitive appeal, WHERE WE ARE TOLD WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING AND WHAT IT GETS USED FOR" <emphasis mine>
- May God help those who are assigned the Dicastery of Communications...
In the case of Müller ets., I believe it's probably plain incompetence.
In most of these cases, the clerics may provide oversight, but operationally none of the clerics should be handling money. Period. It should be professional services who are handling money, whether cash or something else.
Too many of these men are given responsibility for money (as bishops, heads of dicasteries, etc.) and then proclaim ignorance of all things financial. In the secular world, this is a failure of fiduciary duty. People who cannot fulfill those roles (such as on a board of trustees for a pension plan) are supposed to step down from those positions... or they are open to liability suits in malpractice.
I wouldn't be the least surprised if Müller just didn't know what he was doing, and the cash piled up. He didn't know what to do and too proud to admit it.
I keep hammering the topic, but there are loads of laypeople in the Church who could help. I do understand the clerics are going to be suspicious of being vulnerable to a Bernie Madoff situation, but they're already vulnerable to their own incompetence.
There is nothing about being a cleric that makes someone good a financial management. They spend 8 years in seminary learning philosophy and theology, not accounting. It would be great if clerics would just admit that the vast majority of them aren't qualified to be managing something like a parish budget, much less a Vatican dicastery, and just appoint lay people that are qualified. Maybe if we can convince them their clericalism has financial consequences they will drop their pride and put qualified lay people in charge?
That’s not necessarily true. I know of only ONE priest in Australia to go straight to seminary from high school and that required special pleading to (then) Cardinal Pell. He is a good and holy man and has learned the rigours of administration well enough and knows when he needs to ask for help. It’s a case that hasn’t been repeated as far as I know.
The rest are average age of late 20s, have other qualifications, and have been in the ‘real world’ including in Law, Business and Finance before coming to the priesthood. A few have trades (that’s a real problem University degrees are not perfect proxies for virtue or intelligence).
These men are often more competent than the proverbial ‘Jan from the Parish Council’ and apparently anyone in the Vatican of a certain age. Also to note, Cardinal Pell was a very good administrator with excellent financial sense. His plans as secretary for the economy that Ed hinted at are EXACTLY the kind of things he did in his own leadership here and set the Church here to weather the abuse crisis far better than any other Christian Churches.
A lot of Olympic sports (especially in modern times) are rooted in skills needed for warfare. You really notice that the sports that don’t make sense as an Olympic sport are not really, even tangentially related to some aspect of warfare.
The ancient Greeks, had running races, including one in full hoplite armour, weapon throwing, jumping and pankration fighting, archery etc. Equestrian sports were introduced into the Modern Games because modern armies had cavalry and water base ones (swimming, rowing, diving etc) because of navies.
That, I feel should be the continuing criteria for adding sports to the olympics with the added criteria of there are no other global professional competitions. Sorry basket ball, break dancing, and skateboarding, no more of your nonsense… MMA, Mounted Archery and maybe tank racing, or canon target shooting could be suitable candidates to add…
IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED CURRENT ARTISTIC SWIMMING (FORMERLY CALLED SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING) YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TRASH ATHLETES WHO DO GYMNASTICS HOLDING THEIR BREATH!!! Please please please watch the sport!
Miss Piggy has a synchronized swimming scene in The Great Muppet Caper so I groundlessly assume that this is how it got into the Olympics.
I am in the last week or two of the Ancient Greek 101 class and it has been fun. If someone wants to be talked into it I am here to talk you into it (unless you have literally no free time, because in addition to the synchronous weekly class (which was scheduled according to when I was free; amazing), you do need to commit some time daily. People who comment on the internet, however, have free time, perhaps too much free time; who can say?)
I like Ed's idea of US regions raising funds for specific dicasteries in a competitive appeal, where we are told where the money is going and what it gets used for; it could be combined with an exhortation to pray for the works of that dicastery and for the holiness of its personnel.
"US regions raising funds for specific dicasteries in a competitive appeal, WHERE WE ARE TOLD WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING AND WHAT IT GETS USED FOR" <emphasis mine>
- May God help those who are assigned the Dicastery of Communications...
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/prayer-time-indecent-money-and-crisis
In the case of Müller ets., I believe it's probably plain incompetence.
In most of these cases, the clerics may provide oversight, but operationally none of the clerics should be handling money. Period. It should be professional services who are handling money, whether cash or something else.
Too many of these men are given responsibility for money (as bishops, heads of dicasteries, etc.) and then proclaim ignorance of all things financial. In the secular world, this is a failure of fiduciary duty. People who cannot fulfill those roles (such as on a board of trustees for a pension plan) are supposed to step down from those positions... or they are open to liability suits in malpractice.
I wouldn't be the least surprised if Müller just didn't know what he was doing, and the cash piled up. He didn't know what to do and too proud to admit it.
I keep hammering the topic, but there are loads of laypeople in the Church who could help. I do understand the clerics are going to be suspicious of being vulnerable to a Bernie Madoff situation, but they're already vulnerable to their own incompetence.
There is nothing about being a cleric that makes someone good a financial management. They spend 8 years in seminary learning philosophy and theology, not accounting. It would be great if clerics would just admit that the vast majority of them aren't qualified to be managing something like a parish budget, much less a Vatican dicastery, and just appoint lay people that are qualified. Maybe if we can convince them their clericalism has financial consequences they will drop their pride and put qualified lay people in charge?
That’s not necessarily true. I know of only ONE priest in Australia to go straight to seminary from high school and that required special pleading to (then) Cardinal Pell. He is a good and holy man and has learned the rigours of administration well enough and knows when he needs to ask for help. It’s a case that hasn’t been repeated as far as I know.
The rest are average age of late 20s, have other qualifications, and have been in the ‘real world’ including in Law, Business and Finance before coming to the priesthood. A few have trades (that’s a real problem University degrees are not perfect proxies for virtue or intelligence).
These men are often more competent than the proverbial ‘Jan from the Parish Council’ and apparently anyone in the Vatican of a certain age. Also to note, Cardinal Pell was a very good administrator with excellent financial sense. His plans as secretary for the economy that Ed hinted at are EXACTLY the kind of things he did in his own leadership here and set the Church here to weather the abuse crisis far better than any other Christian Churches.
This isn't rocket science. You make a daily deposit at the bank.
"It should be professional services who are handling money, whether cash or something else."
-I can hear the ad from the "Vatican Bank" now...
https://www.tiktok.com/@ryosofficial/video/7367798994376035630?lang=en
(why is there no better link to the studio time outside of TikTok?)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looking_for_a_Man_in_Finance I am intrigued to see how successfully I am living in a cave to have not heard of this.
I was briefly very excited at the prospect of Vatican Bank TikTok
LA did host the Olympics in 1984, and Ed was right, Mel Brooks did have synchronized swimming in one of his films - "History of the World, Part 1". :)
A lot of Olympic sports (especially in modern times) are rooted in skills needed for warfare. You really notice that the sports that don’t make sense as an Olympic sport are not really, even tangentially related to some aspect of warfare.
The ancient Greeks, had running races, including one in full hoplite armour, weapon throwing, jumping and pankration fighting, archery etc. Equestrian sports were introduced into the Modern Games because modern armies had cavalry and water base ones (swimming, rowing, diving etc) because of navies.
That, I feel should be the continuing criteria for adding sports to the olympics with the added criteria of there are no other global professional competitions. Sorry basket ball, break dancing, and skateboarding, no more of your nonsense… MMA, Mounted Archery and maybe tank racing, or canon target shooting could be suitable candidates to add…
In this case might there be room for drone racing, mine defusing, and computer system hacking? :D
Tank racing and cannon target shooting sound like a blast!
No pun intended.
I enjoyed this new mix, Ed hosting had a runaway mine train feel which I have always liked.
IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED CURRENT ARTISTIC SWIMMING (FORMERLY CALLED SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING) YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TRASH ATHLETES WHO DO GYMNASTICS HOLDING THEIR BREATH!!! Please please please watch the sport!