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| First action as Pope CEO, get him some business cards |
Politicus USA - Making a speech on January 22, 2011 to the Roman Rota, which is the tribunal within the Vatican that decides marriage annulments, Pope Benedict XVI said that “no one can make a claim to the right to a nuptial ceremony.” The problem, of course, is annulments, those little pronouncements that make a marriage as if it had never been. The Pope feels too many are being granted, especially in the United States (in 2006 the U.S. alone had more annulments than every other country combined). Therefore, priests must do a better job to make sure people are ready to be married and “qualified” I suppose one would say, for nuptials.
Gee, you'd think during a time where Catholic church going numbers are dwindling by the day the Pope would be all about throwing religious parties and bringing his strays back to the flock, guess he's chosen to go a different route though.
I'm pretty sure at this point the church needs to bring in a hired CEO consultant of sorts to help them out on the business end of things. I'm no expert but I'm fairly certain insulting people and refusing to provide services is no way to endear yourself to potential customers, and that's really how this needs to be looked at. Churches are closing at a rapid pace, I'd think pushing marriage licenses on people would be the plan. Collect for the marriage upfront and then collect on the back end for the annulment. That's a nice guaranteed 50% cash flow based current divorce statistics.
The church, by and large, is selling a service. They're selling morality, inner peace, and entrance to heaven. It may be taboo or outdated to say that, and maybe the church doesn't go around broadcasting this like it used to back in the days of tithing but it's still very much the case. You're always going to have a religious core to attend your services and spread your gospel, but you've lost the majority of the public who were just looking for a nice convenient way to ensure an eternity of bliss. A few bucks in the collection plate, an envelope of cash for performing a few religious services (marriage included) and an eternity of ice cream, pizza and couch potato activities (yes I'm lazy even in heavenly fantasies).
You want me back? Start charging an entrance fee (come on, too many people go and just conveniently pass the donation plate without dropping in their share, collect that fee up front), get some comfortable couches in there (who sits on wooden benches? what am I, Amish?) Throw up a big screen in the back with a ticker scrolling random bible passages, made up statistics about heaven, and sports scores and you've got me back.
Until then I'll continue to enjoy sleeping in on Sunday.
