Trying to find out more about Peter’s Pence*, I looked on the relevant Vatican’s site, and came across something pretty funny:
The general criterion that inspires the Peter’s Pence Collection is derived from
the primitive Church:
“The primary source of support for the Apostolic See should be in offerings freely given by Catholics throughout the whole world, and by other persons of good will. This is in harmony with a tradition dating back to the Gospel (cf. Lk 10:7) and the teaching of the Apostles (cf. 1 Cor 11:14)” (Letter of Pope John Paul II to the Cardinal Secretary of State, 20 November 1982).
Luke 10:7 makes sense, because Christ tells His disciples it’s okay for them to be cared for materially by those they’re caring for spiritually, because ” the worker deserves his wages.” And 1 Corinthians 9:14 would have made since, when Paul reminds the Corinthians that “the Lord ordered that those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel. ” But 1 Corinthians 11:14?
Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears his hair long it is a
disgrace to him,
That’s, um, some interesting Biblical support for Peter’s pence…
Cough up the money, hippies.
*Peter’s Pence is the charity which the Pope runs for “those in need because of natural disaster, war, oppression, and disease. ” I know very little about it (where exactly the money goes, etc.), except that it’s funded by voluntary contributions by parishoners. On the feast of St. Peter and Paul, a second collection is passed around, and that (along with contributions via the website) brings in tens of millions of dollars for works of charity [about $60 million in 2005, $100 million in 2006, and $80 million in 2007 – no idea why it fluctuates that wildly, either].