Pope Lauds Benedict For Abuse Response

From the Catholic League

Pope Francis (Left) with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

Bill Donohue comments on remarks made today by Pope Francis on the sexual abuse scandal:

No one has done more to check the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church than Pope Benedict XVI, but he receives very little credit for doing so. That is why what Pope Francis said today matters: he singled Benedict out for his yeoman efforts. “Benedict XVI was very courageous and has opened a new way.” Because of Benedict, he said, “the Church has done much, perhaps more than all the others.”

Pope Francis is twice right. Long before Benedict became pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as head of the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation, called for swifter and stronger procedures to punish molesting priests. That was in 1988. In 2001, he was given exclusive jurisdiction over these matters, and in 2003 he was awarded the power to police priestly sexual abuse. When he became pope, he made it more difficult for practicing homosexuals to enter the priesthood, the net effect of which has been a sharp decline in the number of abuse cases.

In his interview today, Pope Francis said, “The Catholic Church is perhaps the only public institution that has moved with transparency and responsibility. No one has done more, and yet the Church is the only one that is being attacked.” The pope was obviously referring to the highly politicized, and maliciously conceived, United Nations report on the Vatican’s response to this issue.

Pope Francis not only speaks truth to power, and to the people, he tells it like it is to those who selectively rally to his side. Yesterday, his comments condemning anti-Catholicism were, as I predicted, all but ignored. His remarks today lauding his predecessor will similarly be given short shrift. Such is the politics of the left, religious as well as secular.

Cardinal Dolan Makes it Simple for the Mainstream Media

Pope Francis Didn't Change the Church's Teaching on Homosexuality

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And let's not forget what Pope Benedict (Cardinal Ratzinger) said back in 1985 regarding the treatment of homosexuals:

"It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church's pastors wherever it occurs. It reveals a kind of disregard for others which endangers the most fundamental principles of a healthy society. The intrinsic dignity of each person must always be respected in word, in action and in law."
Cardinal Ratzinger, 1985. Letter to the Catholic Bishops of the World, regarding the treatment of homosexual people.

Another Anti-Catholic Publicity Stunt Fizzles

International Court Case Against ex-Pope Fizzles

New York, 13th June 2013, Rachel Zoll, AP.

The International Criminal Court has rejected a longshot request by clergy sex abuse victims to investigate former Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican cardinals for possible crimes against humanity.

The tribunal, based in The Hague, told attorneys for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests that "there is not a basis at this time to proceed with further analysis."

"The matters described in your communication do not appear to fall within the jurisdiction of the court," a court official wrote in a May 31 letter to the Center for Constitutional Rights, the nonprofit legal group that represents the victims. The legal organization released the letter Thursday.

Jeffrey Lena, the U.S. attorney for the Vatican, had called the 2011 request to the court a "ludicrous publicity stunt."

Continue reading at The Seattle Times.

More from the Catholic League.

Tim Minchin - !@%# his Pope Song

Comedian Tim Minchin will be in Brisbane in March. Like many comedians he's sometimes funny and sometimes a complete tosser. Minchin's "Pope Song" shows just how ugly the comedian can be. The "Pope Song" is a completely unwarranted attack on Pope Benedict XVI filled with one lie after another. Given Tim Minchin declares himself a fan of Richard Dawkins one shouldn't be surprised at his difficulty with facts.

Tim Minchin's "Pope Song" with a running commentary can be seen below.
Click the "YouTube" or expansion button for a better view. Warning - much swearing.



Of course there is no credible evidence that the Pope is guilty of anything Minchin accuses him of. So why write the song, if not to give expression to his own bigoted anti-Catholic feelings.

Numerous articles defending Pope Benedict against the attacks from the likes of Tim Minchin can be found here.

Courier Mail Continue Their Hate

Double click image for larger view

The Courier Mail continues to show its dislike of the Catholic Church and in particular the Papacy. The Courier Mail thinks a sign from the Protest the Pope Rally, which is factually wrong in 3 out of 4 of its statements, is one of the best protest signs for the year 2010.

The Media, the Pope and the Gay Kiss-in.

 8 November 2010. Catholic League of Australia.

If you ever wanted proof that the media does not give a fair go to the Pope and the Catholic Church then here it is.

Yesterday, the Pope arrived in Barcelona to open the new Cathedral of the Holy Family. As he was driving to the Cathedral around 100 to 200 hundred gay people staged a ‘kiss in’. This is compared to the 250,000 pilgrims who were there supporting the Pope. The protesters only represented 0.08% of the crowd.

Who do you think the media decided to focus on? These are the headlines of a few major Australian and international news services.

Continue reading The Media, the Pope and the Gay Kiss-in.

Revisiting Geoffrey Robertson’s plan to arrest the Pope

Should the Pope be tried for crimes against humanity?

Mercator Net, Michael Cook | Friday, 9 April 2010

A United Nations jurist wants to put Benedict XVI in the dock for condoning sex-abuse. The real question is, how many others should be there with him?

A prominent Australian-British human rights lawyer and United Nations jurist has suggested that the Pope be put on trial for crimes against humanity. I think that this is a brilliant idea.

Geoffrey Robertson outlined his scheme in The Guardian and a number of Australian newspapers. Although he feels strongly that the Vatican is fraudulently representing itself as an independent country, the Pope should be brought to account for systematic abuse of human rights during his pontificate. Since 2002, he points out, heads of state are no longer immune from prosecution before the International Criminal Court. For instance, a warrant has been issued for the arrest of the president of the Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In Pope Benedict’s case, Robertson argues that this includes sexual abuse of minors:

Continue reading at MercatorNet: Should the Pope be tried for crimes against humanity?

If you are interested in reading more, please check out MercatorNet's focus blog on the sexual abuse crisis -- Just B16

Geoffrey Robertson at Protest the Pope

Another elitist Atheist demonstrates he doesn't know what he's talking about.
The video shows the lies preached by Roberston:


Geoffrey Robertson speech at Protest The Pope march


And below, the facts Roberston chooses to ignore:

The Pope demeaning women? Demonising homosexuals? Wishing that IVF children had never been born?
The Pope has never demeaned women. As far as demonising homosexuals, here is what Pope Benedict, as Cardinal Ratzinger, said to the Catholic Bishops of the world in 1985 on the pastoral care of homosexual persons:

"10. It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church's pastors wherever it occurs. It reveals a kind of disregard for others which endangers the most fundamental principles of a healthy society. The intrinsic dignity of each person must always be respected in word, in action and in law."

Hardly demonising homosexuals.

And of course the Pope never said that he wished IVF children had never been born. What the Church teaches is that most artificial reproductive methods injure the dignity of the person conceived and should not be used. However, once conceived every human being has a right to be protected.

Maybe Robertson is suffering some mental disorder???

Jon Stewart Misleads Public about Pope Benedict XVI

Jon Stewart can be a funny guy... A moron too.

In the video below he uses a New York Times story (which is actually false) as the basis for a long skit to ridicule the Pope and the Catholic Church.

The truth is of course out their... Just not in the New York Times (or the Melbourne Age that ran with the same story) or on Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show".

Plenty of rebuttals to the lies in the New York Times story that Jon Stewart used for his hate mongering can be found here.

If there's too many to choose from Jimmy Akin's article is a good summary.

Pope Benedict referred to the lies against him as gossip. Gossip like the New York Times story is usually lacking fact. I suppose Jon Stewart needs to resort to lies sometimes in order to get his laughs.

Response to CNN Documentary on the Pope

The Catholic League responses to another slur against the Pope.

William A. Donohue, Ph.D. Catholic League – 1st October 2010

The CNN documentary, "What the Pope Knew," which aired September 25, deserves a response.

The program begins with music and graphics that set the tone: those who think Pope Benedict XVI has been adept at combating priestly sexual abuse must realize that there is "a darker, more complicated story." Dark, yes, but from CNN's perch, the story is not all that complicated: the pope is guilty of "foot-dragging and, perhaps, obstruction."

We learn from CNN host Gary Tuchman that "For decades, before he became pope, Joseph Ratzinger was a high-ranking Vatican official who, more than anyone else beside Pope John Paul, could have taken decisive action to stem the sexual abuse crisis." Similarly, author David Gibson says the pope "always took the stalling tactic."

It is simply not true that Ratzinger was in charge of this issue "for decades." In fact, he wasn't given the authority to police the sexual abuse problem until 2001. What is truly astonishing is that Tuchman concedes as much later in the program. After he notes that "By 2001, the sexual abuse crisis was beginning to engulf the Catholic Church," he says, "The pope gave Cardinal Ratzinger and the CDF (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) the power to cut through the bureaucracy and handle all sexual abuse cases directly."

In other words, Tuchman was incorrect the first time when he said that "for decades" Ratzinger "could have taken decisive action." He couldn't have been in charge "for decades" if he wasn't given police powers until 2001 (he became pope in 2005).

Nowhere in the program is there any evidence that the pope was guilty of obstruction of justice. This is a serious charge—the most serious made in the course of the documentary. Yet to throw this out, without ever producing evidence to substantiate it, is malicious. It won't cut it to say that he was "perhaps" guilty of obstruction. CNN intentionally planted this seed and never explicitly addressed the subject of obstruction of justice again.

Continue reading at Catholic League: For Religious and Civil Rights

Another stunning clear insight from the Pope

 By Phil Lawler | September 16, 2010 – CatholicCulture.org

Pope Benedict has a disconcerting way of hitting nails directly on the head. It's disconcerting, I say, because I struggle and strain to make a point, never satisfying myself that I've made it clearly, and then along comes the Holy Father, and he pounds home the same point in a simple, clear, remark. 

For example, in writing The Faithful Departed I tried to explain that when Church leaders seek after public affirmation, they lose focus on the faith, and eventually lose public affirmation as well. To be honest, I've always had trouble summarizing that argument quickly; I have trouble boiling down the message of the book into a single paragraph.

Then today, as he met with the journalists who are accompanying him on his trip to Great Britain, the Pope made the point deftly, clearly-- and quite unexpectedly, I think-- in response to one journalist's question. The question was how the Church could be more attractive to the public. Notice how the Pope, in the very first phrase of his reply (which I emphasize below), steers the conversation off its predictable course to make a more important point:

“I would say that a Church that seeks to be particularly attractive is already on the wrong path, because the Church does not work for her own ends, she does not work to increase numbers and thus power. The Church is at the service of another: she serves, not for herself, not to be a strong body, rather she serves to make the proclamation of Jesus Christ accessible, the great truths and great forces of love, reconciling love that appeared in this figure and that always comes from the presence of Jesus Christ.”

I spent many months, and 264 pages, trying to get at that point. Pope Benedict nailed it down in one stroke with an extemporaneous comment. Disconcerting. But beautiful!

From Catholic Culture : On The News : another stunning clear insight from the Pope

Catholics may be sick of clerical sex abuse stories, but they can't be ignored

 By Greg Erlandson – Our Sunday Visitor

We’ve received several emails and letters from readers, pleading, essentially, “Enough!” of our coverage of the clerical sex abuse crisis. One said she was “weary of the continuing barrage of information on the sexual scandal in the Church. I know that it has happened; I know that the Holy Father is doing everything in his power to respond to it. I just do not think that we need to hear so much about it.”

Even as the co-author of a recent book on Pope Benedict XVI and the crisis, I find myself wanting to agree. We are all tired of this topic. It is a bad news story that won’t go away. Many of us have been dealing with news of the scandals since 1985 — a quarter of a century.

Continue reading Catholics may be sick of clerical sex abuse stories, but they can't be ignored: Our Sunday Visitor

ANGELUS: God always comes out to meet us

VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE (VIS)

VATICAN CITY, 12 SEP 2010 (VIS) - At midday today, before praying the Angelus with faithful gathered in the central courtyard of the Apostolic Palace in Castelgandolfo, Benedict XVI remarked on the readings of today's Mass and invited people to pray for his forthcoming trip to the United Kingdom.

  In today's Gospel "Jesus narrates the three 'parables of mercy'", said the Pope. "When He speaks 'of the shepherd who goes after the lost sheep, of the woman who looks for the lost coin, of the father who goes to meet and embrace his prodigal son, these are no mere words: they constitute an explanation of His very being and activity'. The shepherd who finds the lost sheep is the Lord Himself Who, with the Cross, takes sinful man upon Himself in order to redeem him".

  "How can we not open our hearts to the certainty that, though sinners, we are loved by God? He never tires of coming out to meet us, He is always the first to start down the road that separates us from Him. The Book of Exodus shows how Moses, with a faithful and audacious prayer, managed to move God, so to say, from the throne of justice to the throne of mercy. Penitence is the measure of faith, thanks to which we return to Truth".

  With reference to the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the Holy Father noted how "when the elder son is offended by the festive welcome shown to his brother, it is again the father who goes out to meet him. ... Only faith can transform selfishness into joy and re-establish proper relations with others and with God", he said.

  Finally, the Holy Father asked for prayers for his apostolic visit to the United Kingdom where, next Sunday, he is due to beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman. "To the Virgin Mary", he said, "whose Holy Name is celebrated in the Church today, we entrust our journey of conversion towards God".

VIS news - Holy See Press Office: ANGELUS: GOD ALWAYS COMES OUT TO MEET US

Has Geoffrey Robertson Lost The Plot?

From a Sydney Morning Herald article 9th September 2010:

THE Vatican should be treated as a kind of ''rogue state'' by the rest of the world until it stops using statehood - and the ancient rules of the canon law - to protect paedophile priests.

So says Geoffrey Robertson, QC, the veteran human rights lawyer and United Nations judge, arguing that the Catholic Church is the only religion permitted under international law to claim the privileges of statehood and its leaders immunity from civil or criminal action.

A response from Austen Ivereigh at America Magazine to similar claims of Geoffery Robertson:

Where to begin? [in addressing the nuttiness of Robertson's claims] (a) the Vatican does not deal with abusive priests, local dioceses or congregations do; (b) Where these have failed to act against abusive priests, it has not been because they have resorted to canon law instead of civil law, but because they failed to resort to either canon OR civil law; (c) the cases which have been referred to the Vatican (since 2001) have been referred precisely in order to ensure appropriate action IS taken; (d) confidentiality is imposed in canonical legal processes in those cases where -- as in solicitation in the confessional -- these are canonical crimes, not civil ones; (e) the canonical process (eg laicisation) only takes place after any civil action (prosecution, trial, sentencing) has taken place; (f) it wasn't the Vatican which back in the 1980s moved priests accused of abuse to other parishes, it was bishops. And so on.

If only Pope Benedict were an ordinary citizen, he could rightly sue Robertson for his wholly untrue and grossly defamatory claim that clerical abuse was allowed to take place because "Joseph Ratzinger, both as head of the CDF and as Pope, has insisted for the past 30 years that all such cases be dealt with in secrecy under canon law." That is a monstrous lie -- and, given Cardinal Ratzingers record in this area, simply laughable.

Pope Benedict wanted to be a librarian

August 2010, Telegraph.

His predecessor, Pope John Paul II, declined his request to spend his last years as the archivist of the Vatican Secret Archives and as a librarian of the Vatican Library, according to the incumbent librarian and archivist Cardinal Raffaele Farina.

Speaking in Inside the Vatican magazine, Cardinal Farina recalled when he was appointed prefect of the Vatican Library in May 1997 he had a brief meeting with Cardinal Ratzinger in which he was asked his own opinion of the future pope joining the team.

At the time the future Pope Benedict was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pope’s doctrinal enforcer.

But he found his job “burdensome” and wanted to retire to academic study of ancient documents for the rest of his life.

He asked the Pope if he could step down from his role when he turned 70 on April 16, 1997, a move which would have permanently removed him from Vatican politics and from the eyes of the world.

Continue reading - Pope Benedict wanted to be a librarian - Telegraph

Bill Maher and his Bozo Fans

I'm not sure who to feel more contempt for - Bill Maher or his bozo fans in the audience. Maher is simply a lying shit-head and his approving audience must surely have shit for brains. There is no evidence that Pope Benedict XVI has been involved in any cover-up of sex abuse. I'm sure Maher gets much of his information from reading the rants of Christopher Hitchens. But so much of what Hitchens writes against the Catholic Church is easily refuted with the facts.

Tom Piatak from Chronicles Magazine debunks much of what Hitchens writes as does Sean Murphy who includes 80 footnotes in his article tearing to bits the lies of Hitchens.

From about 2:50 into the video Maher continues his lies this time directed at the Catholic League whose public criticism of Maher can be found here. It’s interesting to note the responses the Catholic League received from Maher bosses:

HBO spokesman stated ‘it’s a free country, and people are free to say silly things—even on HBO.’
And from Time/Warner, Maher’s anti-Catholic remarks were a matter of ‘creative freedom.’

Okay, so Bill Maher is a jerk who is permitted to lie and say silly things because comedians are given ‘creative freedom’. But what is funny about falsely accusing Pope Benedict of covering up sex abuse. Maybe Maher’s laughing fans are just bozos.

Pope reflects on beauty of radical acceptance of God's call

Vatican City, Jun 27, 2010 / 10:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).

Before reciting the Angelus prayer from the window of his apartment in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, Pope Benedict XVI spoke today about "radical" responses to divine vocations. Referring to Sunday's readings he took up the theme of Christ's call to us and "its demands."

As the Pope looked out over the crowd gathered to join him for the weekly prayer on Sunday at noon, he saw a smattering of Polish flags waving, especially well represented now that the country's children have just begun their summer vacation and brightly colored parasols were used to shelter many of the pilgrims from the intense Mediterranean sun.

Referring to the day's Gospel reading from Luke in which Jesus asks those on the road to Jerusalem to cut their family ties and follow him, the Holy Father explained that the demands Jesus makes of Christians might seem "too tough."

"But," he went on, "in reality they express the newness and the absolute priority of the Kingdom of God that makes itself present in the very Person of Jesus Christ."

He said that, upon further analysis, "it's about that radicalism that is due to the Love of God, to which Jesus himself is the first to obey

Continue reading at CNA - Pope reflects on beauty of radical acceptance of God's call

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan rips New York Times coverage of Pope

July 2010

Because of all the inaccuracies in the recent coverage of the Catholic Church in the New York Times and other publications, appearing in news articles, editorials, and op-eds, I was tempted to try my best to offer corrections to the multitude of errors. However, I soon realized that this would probably be a full time job.
It is a source of consternation as to why, instead of complimenting the Vatican and a reformer like Pope Benedict XVI, for codifying procedures long advocated by critics, such outfits would instead choose to intrude on a matter of internal doctrine, namely the ordination of women.
But, correcting the paper is not what really matters. What is important is the well-being of God’s people, especially of His little ones.
The bottom line is that the Holy Father, the Vatican, and the Church universal regards with the utmost seriousness the heinous and sinful crime of child abuse and is committed to doing everything it can to ensure that justice is served and that such abuse never happens again.
If critics want to say, “It’s about time,” fair enough. But for critics to continue their obsessive criticism of Benedict XVI, claiming that he just “doesn’t get it,” is simply out of bounds.

Continue reading at the website of the Archdiocese of New York.

Gerard Charles Wilson has about 20 links to articles defending Pope Benedict.

That so many in the Media would follow the New York Times in promoting outright lies to attack the Pope is truly despicable and an indictment on the quality of so many journalists. 
Link to Gerard Charles Wilson’s blog page linking to numerous articles showing the lies of so many journalist and editors.

Yes anti-Catholics really are very stupid.

AOL NEWS WRITER COMPARES POPE TO TERRORIST
Catholic League - July 9, 2010

Recently, CNN fired Octavia Nasr for praising Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah on her Twitter account. Following his death, Nasr wrote that she was “sad” to hear of his passing and said that he was “One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot.” While commenting on this story on AOL News, contributor Paul Wachter asked whether CNN should be consistent and fire anyone who praises Pope Benedict XVI “who covered up the clerical rape of young boys and whose anti-contraception proselytization has contributed to the deaths of millions from AIDS?”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on this today:

The fact that Paul Wachter would compare Pope Benedict XVI to the anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist Fadlallah is despicable. But his ignorance makes his commentary truly astounding. Despite the ceaseless efforts of those in the media—in particular the New York Times—there is absolutely no evidence that the pope has covered up any instances of priestly sexual abuse.

Wachter is also wrong in saying that the pope has contributed to millions of deaths for denouncing the indiscriminate distribution of condoms. In fact, as Harvard professor Edward C. Green has said, “Many countries that have not seen declines in HIV have seen increases in condom use, but in every country worldwide in which HIV has declined there have been increases in levels of faithfulness and usually abstinence as well.”

It’s so nice to learn that Wachter praises Fadlallah for being pro-woman. Inconveniently for him, his hero is also pro-terrorist.