Pope Benedict XVI

[ENTIANONMULTI]

anyway, he's a temporary pope I give him 5 years, max.

Well, most Popes don't make it to double figures anyway. John Paul II is the third longest reigning Pope out of....blimey, how many is it now? 240? So 5 years is probably your average anyway.

Having too much time, i have calculated the average papal reign, 2005 - 32 = 1973 years of the papacy John Paul II was the 265 ( not sure if that includes any popes of Avignon) so deviding 1973 by 265 gives just over 7and a half years per pope

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

New pope intervened against Kerry in US 2004 election campaign

Tue Apr 19, 6:20 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican theologian who was elected Pope Benedict XVI, intervened in the 2004 US election campaign ordering bishops to deny communion to abortion rights supporters including presidential candidate John Kerry.

In a June 2004 letter to US bishops enunciating principles of worthiness for communion recipients, Ratzinger specified that strong and open supporters of abortion should be denied the Catholic sacrament, for being guilty of a "grave sin."

He specifically mentioned "the case of a Catholic politician consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws," a reference widely understood to mean Democratic candidate Kerry, a Catholic who has defended abortion rights.

The letter said a priest confronted with such a person seeking communion "must refuse to distribute it."

A footnote to the letter also condemned any Catholic who votes specifically for a candidate because the candidate holds a pro-abortion position. Such a voter "would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for holy communion," the letter read.

The letter, which was revealed in the Italian magazine L'Espresso last year, was reportedly only sent to US Catholic bishops, who discussed it in their convocation in Denver, Colorado, in mid-June.

Sharply divided on the issue, the bishops decided to leave the decision on granting or denying communion to the individual priest. Kerry later received communion several times from sympathetic priests.

Nevertheless, in the November election, a majority of Catholic voters, who traditionally supported Democratic Party candidates, shifted their votes to Republican and eventual winner George W. Bush.

Source

 

[JamesWhitehead]

Becoming Pope at 78 means you have a lot of history:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/internat ... 55,00.html

Pope 'obstructed' sex abuse inquiry

Confidential letter reveals Ratzinger ordered bishops to keep allegations secret

Jamie Doward, religious affairs correspondent
Sunday April 24, 2005
The Observer

Pope Benedict XVI faced claims last night he had 'obstructed justice' after it emerged he issued an order ensuring the church's investigations into child sex abuse claims be carried out in secret.

The order was made in a confidential letter, obtained by The Observer, which was sent to every Catholic bishop in May 2001.

It asserted the church's right to hold its inquiries behind closed doors and keep the evidence confidential for up to 10 years after the victims reached adulthood. The letter was signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was elected as John Paul II's successor last week.

Lawyers acting for abuse victims claim it was designed to prevent the allegations from becoming public knowledge or being investigated by the police. They accuse Ratzinger of committing a 'clear obstruction of justice'.

The letter, 'concerning very grave sins', was sent from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that once presided over the Inquisition and was overseen by Ratzinger.

It spells out to bishops the church's position on a number of matters ranging from celebrating the eucharist with a non-Catholic to sexual abuse by a cleric 'with a minor below the age of 18 years'. Ratzinger's letter states that the church can claim jurisdiction in cases where abuse has been 'perpetrated with a minor by a cleric'.

The letter states that the church's jurisdiction 'begins to run from the day when the minor has completed the 18th year of age' and lasts for 10 years.

It orders that 'preliminary investigations' into any claims of abuse should be sent to Ratzinger's office, which has the option of referring them back to private tribunals in which the 'functions of judge, promoter of justice, notary and legal representative can validly be performed for these cases only by priests'.

'Cases of this kind are subject to the pontifical secret,' Ratzinger's letter concludes. Breaching the pontifical secret at any time while the 10-year jurisdiction order is operating carries penalties, including the threat of excommunication.

The letter is referred to in documents relating to a lawsuit filed earlier this year against a church in Texas and Ratzinger on behalf of two alleged abuse victims. By sending the letter, lawyers acting for the alleged victims claim the cardinal conspired to obstruct justice.

Daniel Shea, the lawyer for the two alleged victims who discovered the letter, said: 'It speaks for itself. You have to ask: why do you not start the clock ticking until the kid turns 18? It's an obstruction of justice.'

Father John Beal, professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America, gave an oral deposition under oath on 8 April last year in which he admitted to Shea that the letter extended the church's jurisdiction and control over sexual assault crimes.

The Ratzinger letter was co-signed by Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone who gave an interview two years ago in which he hinted at the church's opposition to allowing outside agencies to investigate abuse claims.

'In my opinion, the demand that a bishop be obligated to contact the police in order to denounce a priest who has admitted the offence of paedophilia is unfounded,' Bertone said.

Shea criticised the order that abuse allegations should be investigated only in secret tribunals. 'They are imposing procedures and secrecy on these cases. If law enforcement agencies find out about the case, they can deal with it. But you can't investigate a case if you never find out about it. If you can manage to keep it secret for 18 years plus 10 the priest will get away with it,' Shea added.

A spokeswoman in the Vatican press office declined to comment when told about the contents of the letter. 'This is not a public document, so we would not talk about it,' she said.

 

[austen27]

KFC used to sell a "Chicken Zinger".

I wonder what a "Rat zinger" contains....

(Yes I'll get my coat)

 

[WhistlingJack]

May 01, 2005

Pope has had second stroke

WHEN the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI gave his acceptance speech last month, he explained that he had chosen his name primarily because the papacy of Benedict XV had been “a short reign”, writes Jon Follain.

Both the 78-year-old former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and the cardinals who elected him had given much thought to his age and his health. Breaking a Vatican taboo, princes of the church have now revealed that he has had a second mild stroke within the past two years and that he also suffers from a heart condition.

His ailments raise questions about how long his papacy will last. Since his election Benedict, the oldest man to become pope in 275 years, has at times been helped by an aide to stand during church services.

The French cardinal Philippe Barbarin, of Lyons, said that health problems following a first stroke in 1991 had repeatedly prompted Ratzinger to ask his predecessor, John Paul II, to release him from his job as the Vatican’s chief doctrinal enforcer so that he could retire to Germany and write books.

“Ratzinger presented his resignation when he had his first health problems in the early 1990s and also very recently when he had new health problems, a stroke,” Barbarin said in an interview.

Asked about the stroke, a cardinal from Latin America said: “People also say he has heart problems. When Ratzinger mentioned the brief papacy of Benedict XV, he may have had a premonition that his health would not stay with him.”

Benedict XVI’s brother Georg, 81, a priest, has appalled many in the Vatican by speaking candidly of his concerns. Georg said last weekend that he feared the task ahead would be too much for his brother.

According to a biography by John Allen, Ratzinger’s brain haemorrhage in 1991 affected his vision and for the past decade has had dizzy spells and difficulty sleeping.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone of Genoa, who has worked under Ratzinger, said: “He has sufficient strength and his doctor will follow him.”

Copyright 2005 Times Newspapers Ltd.

 

[Pete Younger]

Sounds like a reluctant pope then, if his health problems were known, why was he chosen, not much christian charity there.

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Rather direct headline but it is easy reporitng to trawl through some web pages and report what some loons are saying:

Doomsayers Say Benedict Fits World End Prophecy

Thu Apr 28, 2005 09:17 AM ET

By Phil Stewart

ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict's ascent to the papacy took a conclave of 115 cardinals, four rounds of voting and followed a lifetime of service to the Vatican.

But ask Internet doomsayers eyeing a 12th century Catholic prophecy and they'll tell you it was all stitched up more than eight centuries ago and that judgment day is nigh.

The prophecy -- widely dismissed by scholars as a hoax -- is attributed to St. Malachy, an Irish archbishop recognized by members of the Church for his ability to read the future.

Benedict, believers say, fits the description of the second-to-last pope listed under the prophecy before the Last Judgement, when the bible says God separates the wicked from the righteous at the end of time.

"The Old Testament states: 'believe his prophets and you will prosper' -- so believe it. We are close to the return of the Judge of the nations. Christ is coming," wrote one Internet post by the Rev. Pat Reynolds.

"Thank God for the witness of St. Malachy."

St. Malachy was said to have had a vision during a trip to Rome around 1139 of the remaining 112 Popes. The new pope would be number 111 on that list, and is described in a text attributed to St. Malachy as the "Glory of the Olive."

To connect Benedict, a pale, bookish German, to anything olive takes some imagination. But Malachy-watchers point to the choice of the name Benedict -- an allusion to the Order of Saint Benedict, a branch of which is known as the Olivetans.

"When (he) chose the name Benedict XVI, this was seen as fulfilling the prophecy for this pope," wrote one entry on www.wikipedia.org.

Benedict said that he chose the name partly in honor of Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922), calling him a "courageous prophet of peace." On Wednesday, Benedict dedicated his papacy to "the service of reconciliation and harmony between peoples."

"Perhaps Benedict XVI will be a peacemaker in the Church or in the world, and thus carry the olive branch," speculated www.catholic-pages.com.

Another site, www.bibleprobe.com, went even further, showing a picture of Benedict holding olive branches in March during Palm Sunday celebrations.

"Is this the Pope of Peace (olive)?" it asked in the caption.

Critics widely dismiss the Malachy prophecy as a forgery and possible propaganda meant to influence a 16th century conclave. Doses of skepticism even appear on the most energetic Malachy web pages.

But believers point out similarities between the prophecy's descriptions and past pontificates. Pope John Paul II, number 110, was described in the prophecy as "de labore solis" -- or "of the labor of the sun."

He was born on May 18, 1920, the same day as a solar eclipse. The pontiff was buried on April 8, 2005 -- the same day as a partial eclipse, visible in the Americas.

More pressing for doomsayers are the prophecy's references to the last Pope on the list, Peter the Roman, who will lead the Church before "the formidable judge will judge his people."

Since Benedict is already 78 years old, they say Peter the Roman must be coming soon, and with him, the end of the world.

"His reign will only last a few years at most. This signals that we are living in what may be the end of days as we know it," said one Web Site entry by someone calling himself SmartBob.

www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type= ... ID=8332197[

 

[JamesWhitehead]

Do I see black smoke?

http://www.popetoast.com/

 

[krobone]

Do I see black smoke?

http://www.popetoast.com/

Ha! :lol:

Actually, it looks more like Capt. Kangaroo.

 

[ramonmercado]

Pope scares child who mistook him for doctor

Pope scares child who mistook him for doctor
Fri Sep 30,10:03 AM ET

The Pope's white robes scared a young boy who mistook him for a doctor when he visited a children's hospital on Friday.

The child began crying when 78-year-old Pope Benedict approached his bed in the cardiology ward of the Bambino Gesu (Baby Jesus) hospital near the Vatican.

"It's the white," a nurse explained to the Pope. "He can't take anymore of these white coats."

The Pope stopped to comfort dozens of children during the two-hour visit.

One little girl, Fabiola, wrote a note and drawing for his visit saying: "Pray for me so that I don't have to have any more transfusions and so I can go back to the playground with my friend Simone."

The Bambino Gesu, now one of Europe's most technologically advanced, was opened in 1869 with just 12 beds as Italy's first children's hospital. It was donated to the Vatican in 1924.

It was Benedict's first official visit to a hospital since his election in April. He visited his older brother Georg in Rome's Gemelli hospital last August.

link

edited by TheQuixote: created hyperlink to stop page break

 

[ramonmercado]

CWN

This is how the Catholic World News reported it. No mention of scared kids.

Pope visits pediatric hospital

Rome, Sep. 30 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) said that no effort should be spared in the treatment of sick children, after he visited with young patients in a pediatric hospital in Rome.

The Holy Father made a tour of Bambino Gesu hospital on September 30, embracing and blessing patients, speaking to their parents, and addressing the hospital staff before he left.

After working his way through the hospital wards, stopping in the chapel for a few minutes of silent prayer, the Pope ended his tour in the conference room, for a meeting with the doctors, nurses, and administrators of the hospital. He told them that he had chosen Bambino Gesu for the first hospital visit of his pontificate for two reasons: because the institution belongs to the Holy See and because he wanted to "bear witness to Jesus' love for children."

Through their work with the suffering children, the Pope told the staff that they offer "concrete and effective witness to the Gospel." He encouraged the medical personnel to recognize the great value of their work, and to turn to Jesus so that they could "draw the spiritual strength to comfort and cure the patients here."

Bambino Gesu was set up by the Vatican as a model institution for care of pediatric patients, and the Pope remarked that the hospital should strive for excellence not only in medical care but also in a form of treatment "inspired by evangelical principles." That effort should be evident, he said, in the "spirit of sacrifice, patience, and disinterested love" that marks the staff. The result, he said, is that "mothers and fathers may find here a place that breathes hope and serenity, even in moments of acute apprehension." The hospital was decorated in the colors of the Holy See, with a large banner welcoming the Pope draped over the front entrance, and dozens of patients' parents were on hand to welcome the Holy Father's arrival. But after a brief welcome by hospital administrators, the Pontiff devoted his attention to the children, beginning his tour with the emergency room and passing through a trauma center and a recreation room-- where he stopped to listen to childrens' songs-- before his meeting with the staff. Along his route, the Pope stopped in the Bambino Gesu clinic to pray, accompanied by religious on the hospital staff.

Bambino Gesu was founded by a noted Italian family, the Salviatis, in 1869, and donated to Pope Pius XI in 1924. It was developed into a pediatric hospital, and in 1985 it was among three such institutions singled out by the Italian government for excellence in treatment. The hospital, situated near the Vatican on the Janiculum hill, employs 2,200 staff members and serves 34,000 young patients each year.

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=39911

 

[ElishevaBarsabe]

I just look at the man and get creeped out.

Still, looking creepy is not his fault. However, he must stay out of the USA's politics.

When the Roman Church is doing its service thing (like running the soup kitchen that the local Roman Catholics run in our town), it is in its stride.

On the other hand, the Roman Church as institution, and the superstitious weirdness and nastiness practiced by some Roman Catholics is intolerable. It's the same at some level for all denominations, I suppose, but the Romans are so visible.

:?

 

[Pietro_Mercurios]

Re: Pope scares child who mistook him for doctor

Pope scares child who mistook him for doctor
Fri Sep 30,10:03 AM ET

The Pope's white robes scared a young boy who mistook him for a doctor when he visited a children's hospital on Friday.

The child began crying when 78-year-old Pope Benedict approached his bed in the cardiology ward of the Bambino Gesu (Baby Jesus) hospital near the Vatican.

...

link

...

Thank goodness! They managed to stop him, before he got his hands on the kid! :shock:

 

[austen27]

On the other hand, the Roman Church as institution, and the superstitious weirdness and nastiness practiced by some Roman Catholics is intolerable. It's the same at some level for all denominations, I suppose, but the Romans are so visible.

:?

I always feel the most extreme Catholics are mild in comparison with Ian Paisley.

 

[Pietro_Mercurios]

On the other hand, the Roman Church as institution, and the superstitious weirdness and nastiness practiced by some Roman Catholics is intolerable. It's the same at some level for all denominations, I suppose, but the Romans are so visible.

:?

I always feel the most extreme Catholics are mild in comparison with Ian Paisley.

And some of those Pentacostalists and Charismatics... Those TBN fakirs.... :shudder!:

 

[ramonmercado]

Open microphone reveals papal dentist appointment

Open microphone reveals papal dentist appointment
Mon Oct 3,10:45 AM ET



Everyone has to take time off from work to go to the dentist -- even Pope Benedict.

At the end of Monday's morning session of a synod of bishops at the Vatican, the secretary-general of the gathering, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, made an announcement about the afternoon session, scheduled to begin at 4.30 p.m.

Just before the microphones on the dais were turned off, reporters following the synod on closed circuit television could hear the Pope telling Eterovic in Italian: "Unfortunately at 4 p.m. I have an appointment with the dentist."

Pope Dentist

 

[ramonmercado]

BMW hands German Pope keys to X5 SUV

BMW hands German Pope keys to X5 SUV

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's BMW has handed the keys to an X5 full-size sport utility vehicle to Pope Benedict, the world's largest premium carmaker said on Thursday.

"We are proud to be able to provide Pope Benedict XVI with a BMW car," the group's chief of marketing and sales, Michael Ganal, said in a statement following an audience with the pontiff.

Benedict hails from the small Bavarian town of Marktl am Inn, about an hour's drive from Munich, where BMW is based.

Apart from a fleet of BMW C1 covered scooters, the official Vatican car park only has one BMW 5-Series executive and one 7-Series limousine.

The well-known "Popemobile" by comparison is a modified M-Class SUV built in 1999 by BMW's arch rival Mercedes-Benz.

The first Popemobile was delivered in 1981 after the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II.

Stepping up security measures, the Vatican equipped the G-Class with the distinctive bubble in which the pontiff waves to the faithful behind armoured glass.

"This vehicle is not the Popemobile," a spokesman for BMW said, referring to the X5 now parked in the Vatican.

Benedict -- Joseph Ratzinger -- was elected pope in April. The following month an Internet casino company won a frenzied online auction for a second-hand Volkswagen Golf once registered to Cardinal Ratzinger.

Pope Car

 

[ramonmercado]

Fine for filming theft of water from Pope's garden hose

A GERMAN journalist has been fined €100 after he filmed three artists stealing water from Pope Benedict's garden hose in Bavaria to sell on Internet auction site EBay.

The three men, clad in overalls and wearing masks, broke into the garden of the Pope's house in Pentling, a suburb of Regensburg, armed with 20 old lemonade bottles.

Journalist Hubertus Wiendl denied any knowledge of the plan.

www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories ... e_id=15360

 

[ramonmercado]

Image at link.

Court damns fake Pope

December 2, 2008

Ian Bryce's "Popemobile" cops a fine.

Riding in a glass enclosed box atop a silver Mazda, the Pope created quite a stir when he arrived at North Sydney Oval during a World Youth Day event earlier this year.

But it was not Pope Benedict XVI, sitting on the roof of Ian Bryce's car, rather it was a manequin pontiff complete with gold satellite phone and the words "broadband link to my invisible friend" that caught the attention of police soon after it arrived.

Bryce's "Popemobile" which he knocked up over two weeks with the help of his friends as a "light-hearted" alternative to the beliefs of the Catholic Church, was issued with a defect notice for "having a roof ornament likely to distract motorists."

Bryce, 59, from Rozelle, was also slapped with an $81 fine and charged with using a vehicle that did not comply with standards as a result of the Popemobile protest which was organised by the NoToPope coalition.

The State Government had passed laws to give police extraordinary powers to arrest and fine people for "creating annoyance" to pilgrims during World Youth Day. However parts of these laws were overturned by the Federal Court following widespread protest.

Bryce's legal representatives from the NSW Council for Civil Liberties yesterday told the Downing Centre Local Court that the case could not proceed until police provided further details of the charges.

Outside court his lawyer, Stephen Blanks, said the charge did not seem "particularly appropriate" given the condition in which police found the car.

"The police are being particularly intelligent in trying to find a way to prosecute Mr Bryce," he said.

Bryce said police had detained his Popemobile for about an hour "going through a range of possible charges on the radio to headquarters."

"I was very surprised [by the charge] because I thought that all advertising is designed to distract.

"We have scrolling billboards in the city, and mobile billboards driving around. The regulations say nothing about distraction."

The Popemobile has since found a new home on the back of a white ute which Bryce hopes to show at the LGBT Mardi Gras next year.

PopeMobile

 

[misterwibble]

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a late entrant and surefire winner for Arsehole of 2008:

Pope attacks blurring of gender

Pope Benedict XVI has said that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour is just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.

He explained that defending God's creation was not limited to saving the environment, but also about protecting man from self-destruction.

The Pope was delivering his end-of-year address to senior Vatican staff.

His words, later released to the media, emphasised his rejection of gender theory.

Speaking on Monday, Pope Benedict XVI warned that gender theory blurred the distinction between male and female and could thus lead to the "self-destruction" of the human race.

Gender theory

Gender theory explores sexual orientation, the roles assigned by society to individuals according to their gender, and how people perceive their biological identity.

Gay and transsexual groups, particularly in the United States, promote it as a key to understanding and tolerance, but the Pope disagreed.

When the Roman Catholic Church defends God's Creation, "it does not only defend the earth, water and the air... but (it) also protects man from his own destruction," he said.

"Rainforests deserve, yes, our protection, but the human being ... does not deserve it less," the pontiff said.

It is not "out-of-date metaphysics" to "speak of human nature as 'man' or woman'", he told scores of prelates gathered in the Vatican's sumptuous Clementine Hall.

"We need something like human ecology, meant in the right way."

The Catholic Church opposes gay marriage. It teaches that while homosexuality is not sinful, homosexual acts are.

Rev Sharon Ferguson, chief executive of Britain's Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, described the Pope's remarks as "totally irresponsible and unacceptable".

"When you have religious leaders like that making that sort of statement then followers feel they are justified in behaving in an aggressive and violent way," she said.

'Rock festival'

The pope uses his traditional end-of-year speech to offer his Christmas greetings and say a few words about what he considers the important issues of the day.

This year, Pope Benedict also deplored the tendency to depict the Catholic church's World Youth Day, which he attended in Sydney earlier this year, as mere spectacle.

He stressed that the event should not be considered a "variant of modern youth culture, as a kind of ecclesiastical rock festival with the Pope as the star," but as the fruition of a "long exterior and interior path".

You just knew that at some point he would have to sound off, didn't you?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7796663.stm

 

[ramonmercado]

I say get Ali Agca shooting lessons.

 

[ted_bloody_maul]

Good for Benny. Once you start tolerating this kind of perversity you might as well dress up in a frock, get men to kiss your ring and turn a blind eye to all sorts of deviant sexual abuses.

 

[crossetti]

Some recent controversy over the lifting of an excommunication of a bishop: http://www.daylightatheism.org/2009/01/ ... enier.html

Richard Willamson is a Holocaust denier, a 9/11 "truther", an anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist, believes women should be denied a higher education and equal employment status with men. By lifting his excom, Ratzinger seems to be indicating he has no problem with Williamson's beliefs - regarding the first in particular that's really surprising!

 

[Mythopoeika]

Good for Benny. Once you start tolerating this kind of perversity you might as well dress up in a frock, get men to kiss your ring and turn a blind eye to all sorts of deviant sexual abuses.

:lol:

 

[ramonmercado]

Pope's brother denies knowledge of sexual abuse in choir he led
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/wor ... 03364.html

DEREK SCALLY in Berlin

Sat, Mar 06, 2010

POPE BENEDICT’S brother, Mgr Georg Ratzinger, has denied knowing about abuse cases during his time as leader of Germany’s most famous boys’ choir, the Regensburger Domspatzen or “cathedral sparrows”.

The latest revelations in Germany’s widening clerical abuse scandal came to light after former choirboys came forward to say they had been abused during the 1950s and 1960s.

Mgr Ratzinger led the choir from 1964 to 1994. Founded in 975, it is the oldest boys’ choir in the world and is based in a Regensburg boarding school with an emphasis on musical education.

It is here that the abuse took place, according to a statement by the diocese of Regensburg yesterday.

One man, a religion teacher and deputy principal, was removed in 1958 and charged; a second teacher was charged in 1971. The men have since died but a diocese spokesman yesterday said they could not rule out that other abuse cases would come to light.

“We ask all who have learned of sexual abuse of minors in our institution by clerics or other church staff, or those who are victims themselves, to report this to a member of the board,” the spokesman said. “We want to investigate this with complete transparency.”

Mgr Ratzinger told Bavarian public television yesterday that he had no knowledge of abuse in the choir, which performed last year in the Vatican for Mgr Ratzinger’s 85th birthday in the presence of Pope Benedict.

Meanwhile further damaging details have emerged about decades of abuse at the Bavarian Benedictine monastery and elite boarding school Kloster Ettal.

After the resignation of the principal last week, the school was raided by German investigators on Monday.

Yesterday an investigator called in by the school management presented a preliminary report detailing “decades of massive abuse: sexual, physical and psychological” at the school.

Mr Thomas Pfister, a Munich lawyer, said over 100 former students had contacted him “day and night” to tell of a “regime of terror” from the 1960s to the 1990s, involving around 10 different priests.

Pupils said they were sexually abused, forced to hit each other while priests looked on, or were locked in the cellar at night.

Mr Pfister said the faculty was not made up exclusively of “abusing criminals”, but that serious mistakes were allowed to persist because of an “institutional culture of silence, of looking the other way” and a “false sense of solidarity” among management.

One of the monks at Kloster Ettal has admitted downloading child pornography on to a school computer and uploading images of pupils to the internet. The pictures, showing pupils stripped to the waist, were taken during a hiking holiday a decade ago, and found by a former pupil on a gay website.

The abuse cases in Kloster Ettal are likely to have fallen beyond Germany’s statute of limitations, in such cases usually 10 years after the victim turns 18.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, head of the German Bishops’ Conference, is to meet Pope Benedict in the Vatican to discuss the cases on March 12th.

 

[ramonmercado]

Pope's brother admits slapping
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/let ... 44859.html

Thu, Mar 11, 2010

Madam, – The admission by the Pope’s brother Mgr Georg Ratzinger, head from 1964 to 1994 of a boys’ school choir, that he slapped boys around, but did it with a bad conscience, is shocking. Presumably, he had a bad conscience because he knew what he was doing was wrong, but did it anyway.

More seriously, he admits he was told “about what went on”, apparently referring to things worse than slapping , but it didn’t “dawn on him” to do something.

It is clear from the Pope’s memoirs the he and his brother were and are extremely close and in close contact often. What did the Pope know about this physical abuse of boys, when did he know it and what did he do about it?

As the chief supervisor of those with whom we entrust our children, the Pope should answer these questions now. – Yours, etc,

JERRY SLEVIN,

Old Town Road,

Port Jefferson Station,

New York, US.

 

[JamesWhitehead]

Pappy Slapping? :shock:

 

[ramonmercado]

Pope in talks with top German bishop over sex abuse
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8564074.stm

Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict has had to deal with sex abuse scandals in various countries

Pope Benedict XVI is meeting Germany's top bishop for talks amid a crisis over sexual abuse of children by priests in his native country.

Bishop Robert Zollitsch is expected to put before the Pope details of accusations made in some 200 alleged cases of abuse by German priests.

Europe's Catholic paedophile scandal now affects institutions in Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany.

The Pope has called the Irish abuse a "heinous crime" and "grave sin".

Among the German cases are alleged abuses at a boys choir in the 1950s and 1960s.

The choir was once run by the Pope's brother, but he has said the alleged abuse occurred before he took up his post.

The Vatican was not expected to comment on the private meeting, but Bishop Zollitsch was to due to hold a news conference.

Meanwhile, the Vatican is playing down a suggestion by the Archbishop of Vienna that the celibacy rule may have something to do with the growing number of cases of abuse by clergy coming to light.

 

[ramonmercado]

The noose is tightening around Benny.

Vatican tries to limit damage as German abuse scandal moves closer to pope
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/wor ... 93076.html

PADDY AGNEW in Rome

Mon, Mar 15, 2010

THE HOLY See moved into damage limitation mode at the weekend as the growing German clerical sex abuse scandal moved closer to Pope Benedict himself.

The alarm was sounded in the Vatican when German daily newspaper the Suddeutsche Zeitung revealed details of the mishandling of the case of a paedophile priest in the archdiocese of Munich in the early 80s when the pope was archbishop of Munich.

In January 1980 the then Archbishop Ratzinger approved the transfer of Father “H”, a suspected paedophile, to Munich to undergo therapy. Despite his record, Father “H” was assigned work in the area of pastoral care where he again abused minors. In June 1986 he was convicted of sexually abusing minors, fined DM4,000 and given an 18-month suspended sentence. Father “H” is, apparently, still serving as a priest in Bavaria, Germany.

At the weekend, Gerhard Gruber, who was at the time vicar general in Munich, assumed total responsibility for the decision to readmit Father “H” to pastoral care work, expressing regret and seeming to suggest that Archbishop Ratzinger had not been fully informed.

Not everyone, however, was convinced by the vicar general’s assumption of responsibility. Well-known sex abuse whistleblower Fr Tom Doyle told the New York Times : “Nonsense. Pope Benedict is a micromanager. He’s the old style. Anything like that would have been brought to his attention. Tell the vicar general to find a better line. What he’s trying to do, obviously, is protect the pope.”

Referring both to this case and also to reports last week of sex abuse cases linked to the Regensburger Domspatzen choir, directed for 30 years by the pope’s brother, Msgr Georg Ratzinger, Vatican senior spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi argued at the weekend that the pope had been the victim of a media witch-hunt. “There have been those who have tried, with a certain aggressive persistence, in Regensburg and Munich, to look for elements to personally involve the Holy Father in the matter of abuses . . . It is clear that these attempts have failed.”

In another indication of the Holy See’s damage limitation exercise, Msgr Charles Scicluna, the “promoter of justice” at the Holy Office, last weekend gave an unprecedented interview in which he strenuously defended the record of Pope Benedict during his time as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Holy Office). Msgr Scicluna said the accusation that Pope Benedict had been responsible for a Holy See cover-up was “false and calumnious”.

Msgr Scicluna defended the controversial 2001 norm De Delictis Gravioribus (imposed by the Holy See and criticised as an attempt to cover up sex abuse), arguing that it and the 1962 norm Crimen Sollicitationis were “never understood as a ban on denouncing the [sex abuse] crimes to the civil authorities”. He also said that from the moment sex abuse crimes became part of the Holy Office’s remit, following a 2001 “ motu proprio ” from John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger had displayed “great wisdom and firmness in handling those cases”. The Holy Office prosecutor also confirmed that in the last nine years, his office had handled 3,000 cases from around the world, with the majority of these coming from the US.

In 2003 and 2004, 80 per cent of cases were North American, while from 2007-2009, the US share of the 223 worldwide cases reported had fallen to 25 per cent. He said 60 per cent of the cases “involved sexual attraction to adolescents of the same sex”, 30 per cent involved heterosexual relations, while 10 per cent were “paedophilia in the true sense of the term”.

Italian daily La Repubblica speculated on Saturday that the pope’s pastoral letter to the Irish faithful may be issued this morning. The Holy See was unable to confirm this.

 

[ramonmercado]

Benny Brassneck might find some child abuse victims waiting for him. The Queen may have issued the invite but Gordon Brown decided on it.

Pope Benedict to visit Scotland
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scot ... 570294.stm

Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict's visit will be the first ever official Papal visit to the UK

Pope Benedict XVI will visit Scotland in September as part of a four-day UK tour at the invitation of the Queen, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church will be received by the Queen, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, at Edinburgh's Palace of Holyroodhouse.

The Pope will also hold a public mass in Glasgow.

The visit from 16 to 19 September will be the first Papal tour of Britain since Pope John Paul II's in 1982.

It is will also be the first ever official Papal visit to Britain. The 1982 trip was a pastoral one.

'Gracious invitation'

Pope John Paul II six-day trip to Scotland included a mass in Glasgow's Bellahouston Park, attended by almost 300,000 people.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh and President of the Catholics Bishops' Conference of Scotland, said he was "thrilled that the Pope has accepted the UK government's gracious invitation".

"I am sure he will receive a heartfelt welcome from Catholics as well as members of other faiths and people of goodwill," he said.
Pope Benedict and Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy
Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy will lead preparations for the visit

"A defining feature of Pope Benedict's teaching has been to remind Europe of its Christian roots and culture and to give us guidance on the great moral issues of our day and it is my hope that we all open our hearts to his words."

Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy, who is leading UK government preparations for the tour, said it was "an historic visit at an important time".

"The Papal visit represents an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen ties between the UK and the Holy See on action to tackle poverty and climate change as well as the important role of faith in creating strong and cohesive communities," he said.

"We aim to build further on the positive relationship we have developed in recent years."

During the visit the Pope will beatify the 19th century theologian and educationalist Cardinal John Henry Newman at a public mass in Coventry.

He will also conduct a prayer vigil in London.

He will meet the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church of England, at Lambeth Palace and pray with other church leaders at Westminster Abbey.

More details of the Pope's itinerary will be released closer to the time.