If you grew up on the South Side of Chicago, you went to mass every Sunday. Not so much because you were super into Jesus & His sidekick, The Pope, as much as it was just the thing you did. There was a community aspect to the whole thing—seeing what everyone was wearing, if so-and-so showed up without her husband and the implications of that, to find out if that girl from Chemistry was out of her goth phase yet—but generally it was just obligation. Sunday afternoons were for the Bears, but Sunday mornings were for the Lord. And when that collection plate came around, you reached into your pocket and threw in a few bucks, not caring where the money went—maybe they could get the clergy some new robes or build a new statue out front—but believing it was the right thing to do.
Blindly trusting the church with your money is no longer possible. ?As this report from the Human Rights Campaign reveals, the church isn't exactly in the cathedral-building business and dolling out priests’ salaries anymore. During the previous election cycle, the Roman Catholic Church spent nearly $2 million to fund campaigns for anti-same sex marriage bills in Minnesota, Maine, Maryland, and Washington. (All losing efforts, mind you.) That's money parishioners threw into the pot thinking that maybe they could have built a new homeless shelter, or gotten some extra workers for the soup kitchen, or, hell, even gotten a better quality of wine to stand in for Jesus's blood. Instead, it went right into continuing the spread of discrimination and trying to put a halt to tolerance.
Catholics, keep that in mind the next time the collection plate gets passed.
i was looking for a chart that showed their take over the time period the pope started saying sane things, but this was all i found. I didn't know the catholic church was copying the mormons on political action... so i found this interesting.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
