Posted on 10/17/2014 1:11:56 PM PDT by NYer
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Pope Francis has for the first time allowed the Sistine Chapel to be rented out for a private corporate event, with the proceeds to go to charities working with the poor and homeless.
The concert, to be performed amid the splendour of Michelangelo’s frescoes on Saturday, will be attended by a select group of about 40 high-paying tourists who have signed up to an exclusive tour of Italy organised by Porsche.
But as the unprecedented deal was announced, the Vatican announced that it would limit the number of visitors allowed inside the chapel to the current total of six million, amid fears that the frescoes are being damaged by the breath and sweat of so many tourists.
The Vatican would not divulge how much it will earn from the event, but the five-day tour of Rome arranged by the Porsche Travel Club costs up to 5,000 euros per head, meaning an overall price of 200,000 euros.
Participants are promised “a magnificent concert in the Sistine Chapel, with its ceiling frescoes painted by Michelangelo”.
The concert will be performed by a choir from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, which traces its origins back to the 16th century.
They will then sit down to a “gala dinner” in the midst of the Vatican Museums, “surrounded by masterpieces by world-famous artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael”.
“It’s a one-off event and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” a spokeswoman for the Porsche Travel Club told The Telegraph. “It will be the highlight of the trip.”
The Pope is keen to put the Vatican’s incomparable cultural heritage treasures to good use for the benefit of the needy.
Shortly after he was elected in March last year he called for a “poor Church for the poor”.
Monsignor Paolo Nicolini, the administrative director of the Vatican Museums, said firms like Porsche would be asked to make a donation for the use of the Sistine Chapel, with the money then passed onto Catholic charities of the Pope’s choice.
“It is an initiative which will support the Pope’s charity projects. It is aimed at big companies which, through the payment of a fee, can contribute to charity activities,” he said.
Perhaps the Last Judgement will serve to remind them of what's up ahead, ping!
Next I suppose they will sell the naming rights like sports stadiums. The Apple Chapel?
When will it be available for gay weddings?
money changers...
Sign of the times.
What’s next?
Will he open up St. Peter’s Basillica for interfaith ceremonies as he did with his cathedral when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aries?
>>And he (Bergoglio) also sponsored interfaith prayers after Pope Benedict XVI offended Muslims in 2006 by quoting a Byzantine emperor as saying some of the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings were “evil and inhuman.”<<
How’s that? I see the proceeds going to charity, so frankly the analogy is lost on me.
Ha!
Intentions are perhaps good....BUT....I remember something about Jesus and the Money Changers...and Jesus wasn’t happy
????
Incoming! I see no problem with it.
Have minarets been built yet?
There is nothing wrong with this and it is no big deal. If I had the money to rent out the chapel, I would.
I see no problem with it either.
“How’s that? I see the proceeds going to charity, so frankly the analogy is lost on me.”
It’s lost on you because it doesn’t make sense. There’s nothing wrong with renting out the chapel for charity.
Or perhaps a tango dance fundraiser?
"To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Catholic presence in the neighborhood of Coghlan in Buenos Aires, its Archbishop, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, promoted a tango Mass. It took place in Santa Maria de Los Angeles Parish run by the Capuchin Friars in the year 2008." /557-Tango-1.jpg)
http://traditioninaction.org/RevolutionPhotos/A557-Tango.htm
The proceeds will fund the poor. Would Jesus have a problem with that?
>>On behalf of Pope St. Pius X, the Vicar General of Rome Card. Basilio Pompili issued a Pastoral Letter in 1914 denouncing the tango as highly damaging to the soul. The Cardinal stated:<<
>>”The tango, which has already been condemned by illustrious Bishops and is prohibited even in Protestant countries, must be absolutely prohibited in the see of the Roman Pontiff, the centre of the Catholic religion.” He urged the clergy to courageously raise their voices “to defend the sanctity of Christian customs against the threatening danger and overwhelming immorality of the new paganism.” He also warned parents that if they do not protect their children from such corruption, they will be guilty before God of failing in their most sacred duties. (The New York Times, January 16, 1914)<<
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