Pecunia non olet*

Unter dem Titel "Hussein and the Sacred Heart" bringt Leon J. Podles im Touchstone-Blog folgende Story aus einem AP-Bericht:

"Saddam's bond with Detroit started in 1979, when the Rev. Jacob Yasso of Chaldean Sacred Heart congratulated Saddam on his presidency. In return, Yasso said, his church received $250,000.

'He was very kind person, very generous, very cooperative with the West. Lately, what's happened, I don't know,' Yasso, 70, said Wednesday. 'Money and power changed the person.'

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Yasso said that at the time, Saddam made donations to Chaldean churches around the world. 'He's very kind to Christians,' Yasso said. Chaldeans are a Catholic group in predominantly Muslim Iraq. Among prominent Chaldeans is Iraq's deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz.

A year later, Yasso traveled with about two dozen people to Baghdad as a guest of the Iraqi government, and they were invited to Saddam's palace. 'We were received on the red carpet,' Yasso said. Yasso said he presented Saddam with the key to the city, courtesy of then-Mayor Coleman Young. Then, Yasso said, he got a surprise.

"He said, `I heard there was a debt on your church. How much is it?' Yasso said.

Saddam donated another $200,000."

Was sagt uns das? "Macht Euch Freunde mit dem ungerechten Mammon", sagt ER.

* lat. für: Geld stinkt nicht.