http://now.msn.com/now/0406-russian-church-deception.aspx

for those too lazy to click, the grand poobah in his stately splender was photographed wearing a $30K wristwatch.

Too unseemly? They airbrushed it off his wrist, but not its refection on the desk. the Russian press caught a whiff and now the original photo has been released, with poobah still lying about it.

"Kirill though has told journalists he has never worn the watch and images of him with it on were in fact the ones that were doctored."


clearly they needed to hire those pr pros from provo who so effectively airbrush away all those dangling ferrets.

A 30K watch does not seem like a big deal to me. If you want to see some real wealth go to the vatican. They wont photo shop out the popes pontiff ring, or ivory, gold and jewel encrusted benediction scepter.

On a side note. I attended a Russian service once in St Petersburg. It was like a cross between slow line dancing and severe OCD. The Cathedral was beautiful though and it made it totally worth it. My daughter was baptized in a russian orthodox church, in San Francisco. The guy that baptized her looked like a wizard.

It's the old "would Jesus wear a Rolex?" deal....when it comes to swamps or organized religion, the scum always rises to the top....

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/article_fd2193f6-9850-53e1-af13-12cc9998c9f6.html

The Rolex-wearer was Blair J. Packard, mission president.

They preach anything they want and people are ready to dole out money for the preaching. You know the saying...a fool and his money.

I think one of the reasons religion has been so strong for centuries is that it is so easy for the opportunists (priests and preacher types) to find a niche taking advantage of the suckers. It's socially acceptable scamming.

It's nice work if you can get it. It's easy money to let everyone ELSE know just how humble Jesus was while living large.

The Christian clergy in communist countries were often corrupted, because they reds replaced the sincere ones, with party members.
I can tell you the Orthodox Clergy in Houston, Texas almost all work day jobs, although they also have degrees in Theology, and often Counseling of some type.