(My comments are in bold print.)Pope Reveals He Took
(STOLE)His Late Confessor's Cross
VATICAN CITY March 6, 2014 (AP)
By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/pope-reveals-late-confessors-cross-22796088Pope Francis confessed Thursday that he took the rosary cross of his late confessor from his casket and wears it to this day in a fabric pouch under his cassock. He said he did so telling the late priest, "Give me half your mercy."
(Keep in mind, he was already DEAD when he supposedly "told" the priest this.)
Francis made the revelation Thursday during an informal chat with Roman priests about the need to be merciful to their flocks. He told the story of the "great confessor" of Buenos Aires who had heard confessions from most of the diocesan priests as well as from Pope John Paul II when he visited Argentina.
When the priest died, Francis went to pray by his open casket and was stunned that no one had brought any flowers.
"This man forgave the sins of all the priests of Buenos Aires, but not a single flower ...?" Francis recalled. So he went out and bought a bouquet of roses, and when he returned to arrange them around the casket, he saw the rosary the priest still held in his hand.
(So he took the rosary, in return for his flower gesture... Franny was nice enough to bring the only flowers at this priest's funeral, so he figured he could just take the rosary.)"And immediately there came to mind the thief we all have inside ourselves and while I arranged the flowers I took the cross and with just a bit of force I removed it," he said, showing with his hands how he pulled the cross off the rosary. "And in that moment I looked at him and I said 'Give me half your mercy.'"
Francis said he kept the cross in his shirt pocket for years, but that the cassock he wears now as pope doesn't have a pocket. He now keeps it in a little pouch underneath.
"And whenever a bad thought comes to mind about someone, my hand goes here, always," he said, gesturing to his heart.
"And I feel the grace, and that makes me feel better." (Can't we always tell grace by "feelings?" :rolleyes: )That's actually called stealing from the dead, isn't it? People get thrown in jail or fined for this stuff here. http://www.texomashomepage.com/story/man-sentenced-for-stealing-ring-from-body-in-caske/d/story/Aq-nfIYcDUSsSZxUmAP4uQA Wichita Falls man convicted of stealing Jєωelry off a body at a funeral home won't have to spend time behind bars.
Steven Swanson was found guilty of theft from a person or human corpse.
He's sentenced to five years deferred adjudication.
He'll also have to pay a $750 dollar fine plus $500 dollars in restitution to the victim's family.
Employees at a funeral home off 300 East Cash in Iowa Park say a man came there asking to go to the bathroom and then left.
They say a widow of a deceased person later went to the funeral home and noticed her late husband's ring and watch were missing.
Employees say they looked at the ledger in the deceased man's room and saw the name Steve Swanson.
Police later interviewed Swanson who admitted to the theft.
Right in my own backyard this happened with a guitar.http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/26/cemetery-worker-charged-with-stealing-guitar-from-casket/Cemetery Worker Charged With Stealing Guitar From Casket
Published September 26, 2011
Associated Press
ALLOUEZ, Wis. – A grounds superintendent at a Green Bay area cemetery has been accused of stealing a $2,000 guitar from the casket of a man who died recently.
WLUK-TV reported Steve Conard, 39, was charged Monday with
theft of moveable property from a corpse.The dead man's family confirmed the Fender Telecaster guitar was in the casket Thursday afternoon, when it was being moved from the funeral home to the Allouez Catholic Cemetery's mausoleum, according to Brown County sheriff's investigators.
A cemetery employee later overheard Conard talking about the guitar, the sheriff's department said in a news release.
"That's a Telly, a really expensive guitar. I have to have that guitar. It's too expensive to be in a crypt," the employee quoted Conard as saying.
The suspicious employee looked in the casket Friday morning, and the guitar was missing.
During questioning on Saturday, Conard told investigators, "This isn't something I normally do; I just have a respect for fine musical instruments," according to sheriff's department.
Deputies found the guitar in his home, the department said.
The suspect's employer, the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, said the man is on unpaid leave pending the result of the criminal investigation.
The guitar was returned to the family and the man and his guitar were entombed in a crypt in an interior mausoleum Saturday, diocese deacon Ray DuBois said.
No current listing could be found for Conard on Monday, and no attorney was listed in online court records.
I suppose even employees of the diocese pick off dead people.http://www.wqow.com/story/15618534/eau-claire-woman-accused-of-stealing-ring-from-body-in-casketEau Claire woman accused of stealing ring from body in casket
Posted: Oct 04, 2011 9:37 PM CDT
By Keith Edwards
Eau Claire (WQOW) - Police say a local woman admitted stealing from a casket out of spite.
Patricia Woodford, from Eau Claire, allegedly pulled the ring off the finger of the body of an 84-year-old woman. Family members say the gold wedding band disappeared after the visitation at a Menomonie funeral home.
The family made an offer for the ring to be returned anonymously. When nothing happened, police took over. They say Woodford eventually confessed that it seemed like a waste for the ring to be buried with the body, so she took it. Investigators also say she told them the woman had treated Woodford's brother poorly and she was angry about that.
Woodford was in court on Tuesday on a charge of
felony theft.
So what do you think? I think this should be seen as theft as everyone else sees it. Just because Franny did it, doesn't mean it's okay.