It all goes down in the book: bishops go on a land grab

[xchrom]

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/english/It/all/goes/down/in/the/book/bishops/go/on/land/grab/elpepueng/20110714elpeng_1/Ten

The Spanish Roman Catholic Church has spent years quietly building up its real estate portfolio, registering in its name land and properties claimed by no one else. Rectories, vineyards, olive groves, atriums, empty lots and apartments that once belonged to villages or were never registered in anyone's name have been appropriated by Church officials in a real estate frenzy that is sanctioned by articles 206 and 304 of a piece of property legislation called the Mortgage Regulatory Law.

It turns out that bishops can issue ownership certificates just as though they were government workers, making it easy for the Church to do the paperwork. This registration privilege was expanded to churches, cathedrals and shrines in 1998, when the conservative Popular Party government of the time eliminated article 5 of the law, which prevented registration of places of worship.

Since that year, the Church has been, in administrative jargon, "immatriculating" properties left, right and center across the country. In Navarre, men of the cloth have swept through the entire territory. Hundreds of parish churches, shrines, basilicas and everything inside them have been registered in their name; so have housing units, storehouses and even cemeteries, garages and frontones - traditional courts used to play Basque ball.

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. There was a reason that tens of thousands of priests died during

the Spanish Civil War.

[xchrom]

2. +1

[Dept of Beer]

3. Perhaps they will have a replay of that, or

perhaps the next thing the Church will do is bring back "the question."

[Angry Dragon]

4. Follow the money

I wonder how many souls are saved by this scheme??


It is only a question of time before the catholic church implodes.........
I hope soon