The theme of this reading is criticism. The author points out everything that the papacy is doing wrong, and asserts that the motivation is money and greed.
During this time, when the pope was moved to Avignon, the Italian papacy was losing money. This led them to receive money from questionable sources, such as "accepting kickbacks from appointees to church offices, taking bribes for judicial decisions, and selling indulgences," according to the text. (Levak, p. 211)
I think the most interesting thing to me in this song is the matter-of-fact tone the author uses. He lays everything out in poetic form, and calls out the church leaders.
Modernly, this is seen through spoken word. There have been several poets that speak out against the word "religion." They say that Christianity is a relationship...not a religion.
While these aren't exactly the same thing (religious leaders aren't stealing money from people), they are coming from people who are fed up with religious practices that harm other people. Religion has such a bad connotation in our society today. This is because Christians aren't living by the James passage from the Bible that tells us that pure religion is caring for orphans, widows, and the poor.
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