I cannot write about this charade any better than Christopher Hitchens, so here is an extract from a piece he wrote in 'Slate' entitled: 'A Call for Earthly Justice: Holding the Catholic Church accountable for it's crimes':
"As if almost timed to coincide with its publication, and with the impending arrival of Ratzinger on British soil, the recent disclosures of the putrid state of the church in Belgium have thrown the whole scandal into an even sharper relief. Consider: The now-resigned bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, stands revealed by his own eventual confession as being guilty of incest as well as rape, having regularly "abused" his male nephew between the ages of 5 and 18. The man's superior as head of the Belgian church, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, has been caught on tape urging the victim to keep quiet. A subsequent official report, commissioned by the country's secular authorities, has established that this level of morality was the rule throughout the hierarchy, with the church taking it upon itself to "forgive" the rapists and to lean upon their victims. Very belatedly, a few months ago, the Belgian police finally rose from their notorious torpor and raided some ecclesiastical offices in search of evidence that was being concealed. Joseph Ratzinger, who had not thus far found a voice in which to mention the doings of his Belgian underlings, promptly emitted a squeal of protest—at the intervention of the law..."We should all rise together as one voice and remove these criminals from their positions of power.
I believe most people here are parents or guardians of children.
Imagine that you had placed your child into the care of these men and then years later you were told by your adult child that they had been sexually abused by these paedophiles for 5, 10, 15 years.
Tell me how would you feel? Would you say 'it was God's will'?
Would you be happy to know that Ratzinger was fully aware of these criminal, violent acts yet silenced your child and moved the paedophile priest to another parish where he could and did commit those same crimes against hundreds of other children?
We have been so brainwashed to the point where these things won't concern most of the faithful too much as they flock to see 'The Holy Father', spend their hard-earned money, walk miles, stand for hours, buy the tacky, junk souvenirs and return home having done their bit for 'God'.
You couldn't make it up.
4 comments:
Nobody I have spoken to has been anything other than outraged about this visit. I know I don't have many Catholic friends or relatives left in England but we're all pretty unhappy that it is State visit and that a racist, homophobic man is being given such a huge platform at our expense.
I was disgusted yesterday when I saw the new article, and the adults who were once sexually abused children on their knees beside the pope during his visit. He was part of the problem - he allowed this to continue any time they were made aware that there was a sick priest preying on innocent children.
What I don't understand are the Catholic protesters who are calling for his removal from the papacy. If you're Catholic and believe that the pope was chosen by the Holy Spirit, how is it that you can protest the decisions of God?
I honestly don't understand how anyone can be Catholic anymore, when the papacy has obviously been proven fallible.
It's all about power. The church, especially the Catholic church, has done and probably will do almost anything to keep its power. They will hide the truth and lie ---anything to save face.
After viewing a series about the Crusades, followed by one about the Inquisition, and reading "Mistress of the Vatican," I am convinced the only way the church could possibly keep its parishioners after all the evil, murder, censorship and corruption was through fear.
The Catholic church is in big trouble in many places in the world. If many people weren't afraid of going to hell if they left the church, they'd be very few members left.
I really enjoyed your blog...I feel like I've made a new friend. Keep posting and I'll keep reading.
I am a young, christian, teacher and feel as though everyone expects me to be a right wing conservative and I am anything BUT that. White, christian... you get the picture...we all feel pressures from our culture and I'm thankful to have a "friend" that can stand up to our culture and say, "NO THANKS"!!!!
Becky
Post a Comment