I truly feel at times that perhaps at long last the Roman Catholic Church is reaping some Divine justice for all of the horrors and misdeeds throughout its history. Certainly not least for the countless LGBT lives that it poisoned and/or destroyed. What's particularly unique is that this Divine justice is striking very close to Pope Benedict XVI, a/k/a God's Rottweiler. It seems his brother - while sill claiming to have known nothing about sexual abuse (so far anyway) - has admitted that he himself engaged in physical abuse of boys and ignored other signs that physical abuse of students was occurring. Adding to the fun for the Vatican is the fact that the German government is accusing the Vatican of outright complicity and cover up of sexual crimes against children and youth. So, as I have asked many times before, why does anyone listen to a word uttered by the Church's hierarchy - including Benedict XVI who headed up the Vatican office formerly known as the Inquisition for roughly two decades? First some highlights from Yahoo News on the Pope's brother and abuse: *
BERLIN – The pope's brother said in a newspaper interview published Tuesday that he slapped pupils as punishment after he took over a renowned German boys' choir in the 1960s. He also said he was aware of allegations of physical abuse at an elementary school linked to the choir but did nothing about it.
*
The scandal sweeping church institutions in many European countries kept widening Tuesday. In Austria, the head of a Benedictine monastery in Salzburg admitted to sexually abusing a child decades ago and resigned. Dutch Catholic bishops announced an independent inquiry into more than 200 allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests at church schools and apologized to victims.
*
The German abuse allegations are particularly sensitive because Germany is the homeland of Pope Benedict XVI and because the scandals involve the prestigious choir that was led by Georg Ratzinger from 1964 till 1994.
*
Then there are these highlights from the Irish Times on the German government's latest condemnation of the Vatican's involvement in the sordid saga:
*
Germany's justice minister accused the Vatican today of covering up severe sexual abuse in the Church after fresh reports surfaced at three Catholic schools in Bavaria. Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger called the developments "frightening" after the cathedral choir in Regensburg, the Benedictine monastery school at Ettal and a Capucian school in Burghausen revealed new cases of sexual and physical abuse.
*
The revelations followed reports last month that Catholic priests had sexually abused over 100 children at Jesuit schools around Germany. . . . "In many schools there was a wall of silence allowing for abuse and violence,"
*
Ms Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a secular liberal politician who has been the government's leading critic of the Church, told Germany's Deutschlandfunk radio. "Even the most severe cases of abuse are subject only to papal secrecy and should not be disclosed outside the Church," she said, citing a 2001 Catholic congregation directive.
*
The justice minister also urged the Church to take part in a public discussion with political leaders and victims on the issue that could potentially include compensation, a call she has made previously. . . . Archbishop Zollitsch had previously rejected the idea, and accused the justice minister of bashing the Church. He is due to travel to the Vatican on Friday to discuss the abuse scandal.
*
Far right Catholics want Pope John Paul II canonized. It seems a posthumous criminal indictment might be more in order. Meanwhile, Benedict XVI and churlish old queens condemn normal gays and oppose recognition of same sex relations between consenting adults. Pretty screwed up priorities for those who sound pretty close to being accessories to criminal acts. But sadly, that is today's Catholicism.
BERLIN – The pope's brother said in a newspaper interview published Tuesday that he slapped pupils as punishment after he took over a renowned German boys' choir in the 1960s. He also said he was aware of allegations of physical abuse at an elementary school linked to the choir but did nothing about it.
*
The scandal sweeping church institutions in many European countries kept widening Tuesday. In Austria, the head of a Benedictine monastery in Salzburg admitted to sexually abusing a child decades ago and resigned. Dutch Catholic bishops announced an independent inquiry into more than 200 allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests at church schools and apologized to victims.
*
The German abuse allegations are particularly sensitive because Germany is the homeland of Pope Benedict XVI and because the scandals involve the prestigious choir that was led by Georg Ratzinger from 1964 till 1994.
*
Then there are these highlights from the Irish Times on the German government's latest condemnation of the Vatican's involvement in the sordid saga:
*
Germany's justice minister accused the Vatican today of covering up severe sexual abuse in the Church after fresh reports surfaced at three Catholic schools in Bavaria. Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger called the developments "frightening" after the cathedral choir in Regensburg, the Benedictine monastery school at Ettal and a Capucian school in Burghausen revealed new cases of sexual and physical abuse.
*
The revelations followed reports last month that Catholic priests had sexually abused over 100 children at Jesuit schools around Germany. . . . "In many schools there was a wall of silence allowing for abuse and violence,"
*
Ms Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a secular liberal politician who has been the government's leading critic of the Church, told Germany's Deutschlandfunk radio. "Even the most severe cases of abuse are subject only to papal secrecy and should not be disclosed outside the Church," she said, citing a 2001 Catholic congregation directive.
*
The justice minister also urged the Church to take part in a public discussion with political leaders and victims on the issue that could potentially include compensation, a call she has made previously. . . . Archbishop Zollitsch had previously rejected the idea, and accused the justice minister of bashing the Church. He is due to travel to the Vatican on Friday to discuss the abuse scandal.
*
Far right Catholics want Pope John Paul II canonized. It seems a posthumous criminal indictment might be more in order. Meanwhile, Benedict XVI and churlish old queens condemn normal gays and oppose recognition of same sex relations between consenting adults. Pretty screwed up priorities for those who sound pretty close to being accessories to criminal acts. But sadly, that is today's Catholicism.
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