The pope arrives in Madrid on August 18 to attend the final four days of the Roman Catholic Church\u2019s six-day youth festivities, expected to draw more than one million faithful.<\/p>\n
Organisers of the World Youth Day celebrations put the price tag of staging the event, without counting security costs, at 50-60 million euros ($72-86 million)\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026Organisers say 80 percent of the cost of the event will be financed by payments from the young pilgrims, with the rest coming from donations by companies and individuals.<\/p>\n
But critics argue that corporate sponsors are eligible for tax rebates of up to 80 percent of the amount they donate because the government declared World Youth Day celebrations to be an event of \u201cexceptional public interest\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Priests Forum, which groups together 120 priests from Madrid\u2019s poorest parishes, has criticised this loss of state revenues, especially since the government has slashed social spending and public worker salaries.<\/p>\n
Evaristo Villar, a 68-year-old priest who is one of the leaders of the group, said the Church has had to ally itself with large multinationals to cover the costs of the \u201cshowmanship\u201d of the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese companies that are backing World Youth Day and the pope\u2019s visit leave much to desire. They are the ones who, together with international capital, have caused the crisis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not against the pope\u2019s visit, we are against the way it is being staged.\u201d<\/p>\n
Opponents of the pope\u2019s visit have set up a Facebook page calling for a boycott of the over 100 corporate sponsors of the event, including Coca-Cola, telecoms giant Telefonica and Banco Santander.<\/p>\n
Nearly 150 groups that oppose the pope\u2019s visit plan to protest against the pontiff\u2019s visit on August 17 on the eve of his arrival.<\/p>\n
Spain\u2019s 15-M movement against the management of the economic crisis, soaring unemployment and political corruption \u2014 named after its May 15 launch date \u2014 is also mulling a series of protests during his stay in Madrid.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Read more. <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With World Youth Day about to begin in Madrid, the high cost of the pope\u2019s visit to the event \u00a0is coming under fire: The pope arrives in Madrid on August 18 to attend the final four days of the Roman Catholic Church\u2019s six-day youth festivities, expected to draw more than one million faithful. Organisers of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[900],"class_list":["post-6041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pope","tag-world-youth-day"],"yoast_head":"\n
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