A group of 120 Spanish Catholicpriests have criticised church leaders for signing up a list ofhigh-profile corporate sponsors for a visit by the Pope inAugust, saying authorities had given in to temptation.
In a rare joint letter, the priests told Archbishop ofMadrid Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela the sponsorship dealsreinforced the impression the church was a privilegedinstitution.
"It's been necessary to form a pact with the economic andpolitical powers which reinforces the image of the church as aprivileged institution, close to power, and the social scandalthis implies, especially in the context of the economic crisis,"the priests said in an open letter.
Organisers of Pope Benedict's visit, scheduled for August18-21 as part of the celebrations of World Youth Day, havemounted a nationwide advertising campaign, backed by well-knownmultinationals and Spain's top companies.
Corporate logos of the companies, including Coca Cola , Telefonica , Santander and Iberia , fill the sponsorship page of the official visitwebsite www.madrid11.com/.
"To trust in the strength of power and money ... is to givein to a temptation as old as the Church," said the letter.
"No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve both God andmoney," the letter said, citing the passage from the Bible,Matthew 6:24.
The Archbishop declined to comment.
The 10-page open letter, posted on the "Priests of MadridForum" website earlier this week -- forocurasdemadrid.org/ -- also criticised at length some of the companies' roles inthe economic crisis.
"The crisis has its origin in the banks' and large groups'uncontrolled desire for profits," the priests wrote.
"We believe the Cardinal, concerned about the multi-millionbudget for the event, has chosen the worst collaborators."
A visit by the head of the Catholic church to Britain wasroundly criticised last year for its high cost to taxpayers,estimated at around 10 million pounds.
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