
Several Saints have spoken out against corruption, emphasizing its harmful effects on individuals and society. Saint Catherine of Siena, for example, famously challenged the Pope and Church leadership of her time, urging them to return to Rome and abandon corruption. Pope Francis has also frequently spoken out against corruption, calling it a “scourge” and emphasizing the need for honesty and the rule of law. St Catherine of Siena.
“Corruption is something that enters into us. It is like sugar: it is sweet, we like it, it’s easy, but then, it ends badly. With so much easy sugar we end up diabetic, and so does our country. Every time we accept a bribe and put it in our pocket, we destroy our heart, we destroy our personality and we destroy our homeland. … What you steal through corruption remains … in the heart of the many men and women who have been harmed by your example of corruption. It remains in the lack of the good you should have done and did not do. It remains in sick and hungry children, because the money that was for them, through your corruption, you kept for yourself.” (Pope Francis-Saint to be)
— Audience with youth in Kasarani Stadium, Kenya, Nov. 28, 2015
That the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
(Romans 8:21) ESV
For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
(Galatians 6:8) ESV
By which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
(2 Peter 1:4) ESV
They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.
(2 Peter 2:19) ESV
St. John of the Cross, a 16th-century Spanish mystic and Carmelite friar, didn’t directly address corruption in the political or economic sense. However, his writings on the “dark night of the soul” and the importance of detachment from worldly things can be applied to understanding the dangers of corruption. He emphasized the need to purify one’s desires and detach from worldly attachments to achieve union with God. This detachment, when applied to corruption, highlights how greed, self-interest, and the pursuit of worldly power can hinder spiritual growth and lead to a distorted relationship with God and others, according to the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus. St John of the Cross
While St. Carlo Acutis didn’t directly address corruption in a specific, extended discourse, his life and teachings offer a strong critique of worldly values and a call to prioritize spiritual values, which can be seen as an antidote to corruption. He emphasized focusing on God, rather than worldly possessions or fleeting pleasures, and this focus is inherently opposed to the self-serving nature of corruption. St Carlo Acutis
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