tagged w/ Pope Benedict XVI
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Victims of clerical sex abuse have reacted furiously to Pope Benedict’s claim that paedophilia wasn’t considered an “absolute evil” as recently as the 1970s.
In his traditional Christmas address to cardinals and officials working in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI also claimed that child pornography was increasingly considered “normal” by society.
“In the 1970s, paedophilia was theorised as something fully in conformity with man and even with children,” the Pope said.
“It was maintained — even within the realm of Catholic theology — that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself. There is only a ‘better than’ and a ‘worse than’. Nothing is good or bad in itself.”
The Pope said abuse revelations in 2010 reached “an unimaginable dimension” which brought “humiliation” on the Church.
Asking how abuse exploded within the Church, the Pontiff called on senior clerics “to repair as much as possible the injustices that occurred” and to help victims heal through a better presentation of the Christian message.
“We cannot remain silent about the context of these times in which these events have come to light,” he said, citing the growth of child pornography “that seems in some way to be considered more and more normal by society” he said.
But outraged Dublin victim Andrew Madden last night insisted that child abuse was not considered normal in the company he kept.
Mr Madden accused the Pope of not knowing that child pornography was the viewing of images of children being sexually abused, and should be named as such.
He said: “That is not normal. I don’t know what company the Pope has been keeping for the past 50 years.”...
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http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=17532Victims of clerical sex abuse have reacted furiously to Pope Benedict’s claim... more
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Dagum
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Do you need to be a football expert to know who will win on Sunday? No. Facts involving simple Super Bowl information, the current political climate, movies, Pope Benedict XVI and Billy Crystal indicate this year’s Super Bowl champion. Read to find out more.Do you need to be a football expert to know who will win on Sunday? No. Facts... more
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Italian clothing company Benetton has withdrawn a publicity shot of the Pope kissing a Muslim religious leader after a Vatican backlash.The digitally manipulated picture showed Benedict XVI locking lips with Mohammed Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand sheikh of al-Azhar mosque in Cairo. It is part of their new advertising campaign 'Unhate' that launched on yesterday and featured unlikely combinations of religious and political figureheads kissing.Here are some of the best shots.
Italian clothing company Benetton has withdrawn a publicity shot of the Pope kissing... more
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A group representing victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests is asking the International Criminal Court to investigate Pope Benedict XVI and three senior cardinals for alleged crimes against humanity.
A New York-based legal charity says they failed to prevent child abuse.
A Vatican lawyer called the case a "ludicrous publicity stunt".
The Roman Catholic Church has been rocked by a series of sex abuse cover-up scandals in recent years.
The Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which is filing the complaint, says it has submitted more than 20,000 pages of evidence of crimes committed by Catholic clergy against children and vulnerable adults to the Hague-based court.
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
In this case, all roads really do lead to Rome”
Pam Spees
Attorney for Centre for Constitutional Rights
It is being supported by abuse victims in the United States, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
"Crimes against tens of thousands of victims, most of them children, are being covered up by officials at the highest level of the Vatican," said the CCR's lawyer, Pam Spees.
"In this case, all roads really do lead to Rome."
The International Criminal Court was set up nine years ago to deal with serious international crimes. It lists rape and sexual violence as crimes against humanity.
But neither the US nor the Vatican was a party to the original treaty setting up the court.
Lawyer Jeffrey Lena, who represents the Vatican in US sex abuse cases, told the Associated Press the request for the ICC to investigate was a "misuse of international judicial processes".
The BBC's David Willey in Rome says the question as to whether the court has jurisdiction in this case will have to be determined by the ICC's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo.
Pope Benedict has in the past expressed shame and sorrow over the clerical sex scandal and has called on bishops around the world to come up with common guidelines against paedophile priests by May 2012.
http://tinyurl.com/66xxz49A group representing victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests is asking the... more
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LOrion
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5 months ago
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You can't blame the Pope for not trying to get down with the kids.
Pope Benedict XVI tweeted for the first time Tuesday, announcing the launch of a Vatican news information portal.
Benedict's tweet on Tuesday read: "Dear Friends, I just launched News.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI".You can't blame the Pope for not trying to get down with the kids.
Pope... more
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Vatican acts after reports of monks staging concerts featuring a former lap dancer and running hotel service
It sounds like something out of Father Ted: a renowned monastery in Rome where monks staged concerts featuring a lap-dancer-turned-nun and opened a hotel with a 24-hour limousine service has been shut down by the pope.
As part of Benedict XVI's crackdown on "loose living" within the Catholic church, 20 or so Cistercian monks are now being evicted from the monastery at the basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, which hosts some of the church's holiest relics.
"An inquiry found evidence of liturgical and financial irregularities as well as lifestyles that were probably not in keeping with that of a monk," said Father Ciro Benedettini, a Vatican spokesman. "The church remains open but the monks are awaiting transfer."
Reports saying the monks amassed large debts have also emerged, but Benedettini declined to give further details of the Vatican report, which was signed off in March.
The monks' days have been numbered since 2009, when the Vatican sacked their flamboyant abbot, Father Simone Fioraso, a former fashion designer who built up a cult following among Rome's fashionable aristocratic crowd as well as show business worshippers such as Madonna, who prayed at the church in 2008.
In 2009 Anna Nobili, a nightclub dancer who became a nun, was invited to perform her "holy dance" before an audience including archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Vatican's cultural department. For her performance Nobili, who says she uses dance as a form of prayer, lies spread-eagled in front of the altar clutching a crucifix or twists and turns as in pole-dancing routines.
Dating back to the 4th century, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme was built to house relics brought back from the Holy Land by the mother of Emperor Constantine.
They include items described as nails and splinters from the cross, thorns from Jesus's crown, and a bone from the finger St Thomas pushed into the wounds of Christ.
The monks living there now had opened a shop selling organic produce from their kitchen garden, but this was shut down in 2009 amid accusations of their having secretly stocked the shelves from a neighbourhood grocery.
The Italian newspaper La Stampa said that VIP guests were also encouraged to stay at a hotel opened at the Santa Croce monastery which offered a 24-hour limousine airport service.
In 2008 Fioraso hosted a week-long, televised, reading of the bible with religious figures, politicians and celebrities reading tracts, starting with Pope Benedict himself. But a year later Fioraso was ousted, despite protests from parishioners who defended his "patience, dedication, sacrifice and passion".
The Vatican's removal of the monks to other monasteries, ending their 500-year presence at the basilica, follows Benedict's hard line with other wayward orders, including the Legionaries of Christ, run by the Mexican priest Marcial Maciel Degollado, who fathered numerous children, was disciplined over sexual abuse allegations and was banished to a life of penitence.
The basilica was supported by the Friends of Santa Croce, a who's who of Roman society run by a Italian claiming descent from Charlemagne.
Italian press reports have speculated that the inspectors from the Vatican suspected homosexual relations between monks at the monastery.Vatican acts after reports of monks staging concerts featuring a former lap dancer and... more
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The Catholic Church has approved an iPhone app that helps guide Catholics through confession and tries to entice lapsed followers back into the fold.The app - called Confession - went on sale last week through iTunes for £1.19 ($1.99). Described as "the perfect aid for every penitent", it offers users tips and guidelines to help them with the sacrament.Now senior church officials in America have given it their seal of approval, in what is thought to be a first. The company behind the program describes as a "personalized examination of conscience for each user"."Our desire is to invite Catholics to engage in their faith through digital technology," said Patrick Leinen of the three-man company Little iApps, based in South Bend, Indiana."Taking to heart Pope Benedict XVI's message from last years' World Communications Address, our goal with this project is to offer a digital application that is truly 'new media at the service of the word."Pope Benedict XVI's World Communications Address on January 24 emphasised the importance of a Christian presence in the digital world.They say the app is not designed to replace going to confession but to help Catholics through the act, which generally involves admitting sins to a priest in a confessional booth.
Catholics must still must go to a priest for absolution.
Yawn, so much work being a believer...now back to Angry Birds...
Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/02/07/us-technology-app-confessions-idUKTRE7165U420110207The Catholic Church has approved an iPhone app that helps guide Catholics through... more
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At a frenzied Friday rally in this garrison city outside of Islamabad, thousands warned Pope Benedict XVI to keep his nose out of the debate over Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.At a frenzied Friday rally in this garrison city outside of Islamabad, thousands... more
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Sex and civic education in schools in Europe is an “attack” on religious freedom, Pope Benedict XVI said on Monday, following a Vatican row with Spain over a new course promoting liberal values.Sex and civic education in schools in Europe is an “attack” on religious... more
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eva2
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Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute Sunday to a priest slain by the Mafia and encouraged people in Sicily not to resign themselves to deep-rooted evil on an island where organized crime has held sway for centuries.
Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute Sunday to a priest slain by the Mafia and encouraged people in Sicily not to resign themselves to deep-rooted evil on an island where organized crime has held sway for centuries.
Sicilians had been hoping Benedict would use his words and presence during his first visit as pontiff to give a boost to efforts to try to rid the island of Cosa Nostra.
"The temptation toward discouragement, to resignation, comes to those who are weak in faith, to those who confuse evil with good, to those who think that, faced with often profound evil, there is nothing to do," Benedict told tens of thousands of faithful at Mass at a sunshine-drenched park alongside Palermo's waterfront.
The pope cited the Rev. Pino Puglisi, who stirred consciences with his anti-Mafia preaching in one of Palermo's poorest and most heavily mobster-infested neighborhoods. Since Puglisi was gunned down by the Mafia in 1993, his supporters have been clamoring for the Vatican to officially proclaim him a martyr, paving the way toward sainthood.Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute Sunday to a priest slain by the Mafia and encouraged... more
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Deaf victim of sex abuse is suing pope, and going public with his story for the first time
Editor’s note: A one-hour CNN special, “What the Pope Knew,” will air Sept. 25 and Sept. 26, 8pm and 11pm ET. This story is drawn from that exclusive report.
By Scott Bronstein
CNN Special Investigations Unit
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – Terry Kohut has kept a dark secret for nearly 50 years. Now he is breaking his silence, becoming a key figure in the sex-abuse crisis in the Catholic Church and the growing controversy over what Pope Benedict XVI did about it.
When Kohut was barely a teen, and for years afterward, he says, he was sexually molested and assaulted by the headmaster and priest of the school where he lived, St. John’s School for the Deaf, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What occurred there is one of the most notorious cases of sex abuse in the Catholic Church.
Kohut was not alone. From 1950 to 1974 the headmaster of St. Johns, Father Lawrence C. Murphy, raped and molested as many as 200 deaf boys, according to court and church documents.
Kohut has now filed the first sex-abuse lawsuit against the Vatican actually naming Pope Benedict, previously known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as a defendant.
Ratzinger was once head of the Vatican’s powerful CDF, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, charged in certain circumstances with investigating the sexual abuse of minors by priests. And though church records show the abuse by Father Murphy was brought to the attention of Ratzinger and the CDF years ago, a church trial against the headmaster was stopped and he was allowed to remain a priest.
The Vatican’s “policy of secrecy” in abuse cases, and its “directives to conceal the sexual abuse of children” by priests, the lawsuit says, helped bring about the abuse of Kohut and others by Father Murphy.
Kohut has never before gone public or spoken about what Father Murphy did to him. He has remained anonymous in the suit, listed only as “John Doe 16,” one of dozens of men alleging abuse.
In an exclusive interview with CNN, Kohut, 60, spoke with his hands and through an interpreter, describing how the abuse by Father Murphy started.
“I went into his office, the door was closed,” he said. “And Father Murphy said, ‘Take your pants down. And so I did… you know, he was always in his black attire with a white collar, and you know … I was questioning why he would ask me to do that. Here he is, a priest, and – I have to obey him. And he proceeded to touch me.”
more after the jump...Deaf victim of sex abuse is suing pope, and going public with his story for the first... more
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Pope Benedict apologized to victims of sexual abuse on Saturday, saying pedophile priests had brought "shame and humiliation" on him and the entire Roman Catholic Church.
Opponents say that he needs to do more to atone for the crimes of Catholic priests: some demand that he turn over names and more information to police so that they can be effectively prosecuted by the state, others insist that his words are "PR not penitence".
What do you think the church needs to do to really deal with this problem? Let's try and avoid ranting and raving in favor of real opinions--well, what do you think?
USA Today's Faith and Reason: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/09/pope-sexual-abuse-scandal-apology/1
News on Pope's speech:http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Pope-Benedict-Meets-with-British-Leaders-Celebrates-Mass-103198954.htmlPope Benedict apologized to victims of sexual abuse on Saturday, saying pedophile... more
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Benedict XVI used the first papal state visit to Britain today to launch a blistering attack on "atheist extremism" and "aggressive secularism", and to rue the damage that "the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life" had done in the last century.
The leader of the Roman Catholic church concluded a speech, made before the Queen and assembled dignitaries at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, with the argument that the Nazi desire to eradicate God had led to the Holocaust and a plea for 21st century Britain to respect its Christian foundations.
"Today, the United Kingdom strives to be a modern and multicultural society," he said. "In this challenging enterprise, may it always maintain its respect for those traditional values and cultural expressions that more aggressive forms of secularism no longer value or even tolerate. Let it not obscure the Christian foundation that underpins its freedoms; and may that patrimony, which has always served the nation well, constantly inform the example your government and people set before the two billion members of the Commonwealth and the great family of English-speaking nations throughout the world."
The pontiff's speech set the wide-ranging tone for his four-day visit: despite attacking atheism, he paid tribute to the UK's historic achievements and offered "a hand of friendship" to all its people.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/16/pope-benedict-xvi-atheist-extremismBenedict XVI used the first papal state visit to Britain today to launch a blistering... more
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Tickets for the Pope's visit to Britain haven't sold as well as organisers hoped; tens of thousands of tickets to an event in Birmingham, seen as the highlight of the Papal tour, remain unsold.
The last visit from a Pope was John Paul II's in 1982, and he reportedly received a 'rapturous reception'. 28 years later, it seems the British public's enthusiasm has cooled a little. A recent survey revealed 77% of people questioned felt the taxpayer shouldn't have to contribute to the £20m cost of the trip, while 79% said they had "no personal interest" in the visit.
With the pope facing protests demanding action on clerical sexual abuse of children, it seems organisers must also grapple with public apathy.
10,000 fewer people are expected to watched Benedict XVI beatify Cardinal Newman at a Birmingham Park on Sunday, while the capacity of an open-air event has been reduced to 80,000 from 100,000 after tickets didn't get picked up as quickly as expected.
A spokesman for Opus Dei said there was "huge excitement" and "no lack of enthusiasm from Catholics" about the upcoming papal visit but admitted there had been admin problems which mean there was a "redistribution of tickets going on now."
Links:
More on the low ticket sales story.
Pope's visit: an interactive guide.
Tickets for the Pope's visit to Britain haven't sold as well as organisers... more
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richjm
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1 year ago
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In Italy it's time of tax payment and of choices about the 8 per thousand: a mechanism that gives to the Church many money. Italians are starting not to give those money to the Vatican. But thanks to the 60% of people who do not choice anything, the Vatican is the only winner.
http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/resistance/chiesa8permille120610.htmlIn Italy it's time of tax payment and of choices about the 8 per thousand: a... more
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VATICAN CITY – More than 100,000 people filled St. Peter's Square on Sunday in a major show of support for Pope Benedict XVI over the clerical sex abuse scandal.
Benedict said he was comforted by such a "beautiful and spontaneous show of faith and solidarity" and again denounced what he called the "sin" that has infected the church and needs to be purified.
Citing estimates from Vatican police, the Vatican press office said 150,000 people had turned out for the demonstration organized by an association of 68 Italian lay groups.
Despite a drizzling rain, the balloon- and banner-toting faithful from around Italy overflowed from the piazza; banners hung up on Bernini's colonnade encircling the piazza read "Together with the pope," and "Don't be afraid, Jesus won out over evil."
"We are here to show both to other people and to ourselves our solidarity with the church in this difficult time," said Simone Pleticos, a 24-year-old student who traveled from Milan for the occasion.
Such large crowds are usually reserved for major holiday Masses and canonizations, not for Benedict's brief, 10-minute Sunday blessings from his studio window. The crowd interrupted Benedict frequently with applause and shouts of "Benedetto!" and the pontiff himself strayed from his prepared remarks to thank them again and again.
"Thank you for your presence and trust," he said. "All of Italy is here."
Benedict didn't refer explicitly to the scandal, but repeated his recently stated position that the scandal was born of sins within the church, which must be purified.
"The true enemy to fear and to fight against is sin, the spiritual evil that unfortunately sometimes infects even members of the church," he said.
The Vatican has been mired in scandal amid hundreds of reports in Europe, the United States and elsewhere of priests who raped and molested children while bishops and Vatican officials turned a blind eye. Benedict's own handling of cases has also come under fire.
Rome's center-right Mayor Gianni Alemanno was in the crowd, along with other pro-Vatican Italian officials.
"We want to show our solidarity to the pope and transmit the message that single individuals make mistakes but institutions, faith and religion cannot be questioned," Alemanno told Associated Press Television News. "We will not allow this."
Luca Colussi, from the farmers' union Coldiretti, said abuse allegations must be fully investigated. "But as far we're concerned, our members will always remain close to the Pope as we share the same values."
___VATICAN CITY – More than 100,000 people filled St. Peter's Square on Sunday... more
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