News has it that APS is in talks to buy HSBC, after the latter announced that it is exiting Malta. The once strong Mid-Med, sold by the PN government, is doing so because, according to the media, “wants to push on corporate banking in Asia at the cost of cutting down on retail banking within Europe.”
The banks know of the imminent collapse of the economy that will hit Europe.
So far, there has been no public direction from Church leaders about this possibility for APS.
APS stands for Apostolato della Preghiera (Apostleship of Prayer). I assure you that with the interests one pays with each loan, which leads you to calculate that you would have paid, by pension age, triple the amount of a property you would have bought, you end up doing a pilgrimage of prayers.
APS was originally fully owned by the Archdiocese of Malta and the Diocese of Gozo. How sweet, hux! Do you recall Christ owning a bank? Hear, hear! “APS Bank, an active member of European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks, was established by the Gozitan JESUIT Fr Michael Vella who brought together a group of people, mainly professionals and merchants, motivated in part by a desire to help the working classes that lacked a viable welfare state.” Their filth is always framed as something ‘helpful.’
But in 2022, APS went public – no, it is not owned by the people with income flowing to the people. Fejn sejjer b’moħħok? Don’t let your imagination run amok. It only meant that the Archdiocese’s shareholding was diluted to 55.1% with the Gozo Diocese owning 12.7%. Do you recall Christ owning shares in a bank?
The rest of the shareholding are held by the public and institutional investors. Tgħid mhux jien u l-poplu meskin li jaqlagħha u jikolha u nbatu nġebbdu minn xahar għal xahar u kull ħolma li jkollok mhux twarrabha imma tarmiha u tidfinha! Mhux is-soltu jkunu – xi erba’ panpaluni.
These are the same entities that talk of poverty and how we should give a hand to the poor. These are the same entities that go round in every mass with the sassla so at the end, Judas Iscariot counts the coppers and Shylock thinks of new contracts of the pound of flesh. But every now and then we donate a multi-million property to some kind of entity. U n-nies ibatu. In-nies isofru. In-nies ma jistgħux ilaħħqu mal-ħajja. In-nies ġew imbiegħda minn Alla.
Woe on you church! How many properties have you stolen, church, from Maltese people who were told they would go to heaven if they leave their property to the church, causing friction and division within families? Woe on you church!
But the Archdiocese has employees and must pay them, you fool! And the church does a lot of charity, you fool!
The church is not a business! It was never meant to be a business, hence a prostitute. Let alone founding a bank and owning shares within it! Evil and ruthless – banks are evil and ruthless – run on a Jewish system of accumulating wealth and more wealth, over-burdening people with loans and interest rates [użura bil-pulit], enticing them with carrots so that agendas are actualized while ripping them off from life’s heartbeat and carefree wings. And it was never meant to be a politically-affiliated entity either – with a trail of corruption lingering behind it!
When asked for a reaction by MaltaToday, both bishops of Malta and Gozo refused to comment.
“A spokesperson for the Maltese Curia told MaltaToday Archbishop Charles Scicluna is not involved in the operations of APS, adding that he has ‘full confidence in the bank’s board and management’.” Well, he might not be involved, but ….
“Similarly, a spokesperson for Gozo Bishop Anton Teuma said the bishop ‘has no comments to make in this regard’.”
“Nonetheless, sources close to the Curia have told MaltaToday that Gozo Bishop Anton Teuma has privately expressed disagreement with the possible deal, while the Maltese archbishop set up a group of experts to advise him on the matter.”
“‘The predominant advice Charles Scicluna appears to have received was against the deal and it seems the Archbishop is of the opinion that if the bishops have no common agreement between them, the deal should not go through,’ the sources said.”
Weren’t we told, in the same breath, that Scicluna is not involved in the operations of APS? Well, he might not be involved, because he doesn’t work there, but it seems that whether APS takes over HSBC or not, depends on a common agreement between the bishops, as they convene around the round table counting the 30 pieces of silver.
In the meantime, “Archbishop Charles Scicluna has declared he has full confidence in the board and management of APS Bank, which is involved in negotiations to purchase HSBC Malta”.
“The private position adopted by the bishops jars with the enthusiasm shown by the APS board and management, which is in favour of the takeover.”
Is the CEO of the Curia and the Church rubbing his hands with hindsight that this might turn for more prosperity for Judas Iscariot’s money bag?
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people ‘s bones and all uncleanness.”
“The road to hell is paved with the skulls of bishops, and I don’t want to be part of the pavement” – Bishop Joseph Strickland.