Could Pope's Resignation Be Due to Scandal?

Image from everywhere on the internets.

C'mon, we all thought it. As soon as we heard that Pope Benedict XVI was resigning--particularly when we learned it had been hundreds of years since any pope had--we thought it. Does this have anything to do with the child sex abuse scandals in the Catholic church? It's even been a recent subject, with Joseph Ratzinger (said Pope) being--ahem--fingered in the HBO documentary Mea Maxima Culpa. Could it be more than just speculation? Would it really surprise anyone?

[Excerpt]

Pope Allegedly Sought Immunity For Abuse Crimes Just Before Resigning

We knew something had to be up with the resignation of Pope Benedict. After all, Popes don’t just resign; in fact, this is the first time a Pope has resigned in 600 years. Therefore, the hoopla surrounding this is more than understandable. However, as per usual with the Catholic Church, there seems to be a catch, and, lo and behold, it likely surrounds the infamous abuse scandals that have plagued the church’s image for so long. . .

Read more at: Addicting Info


Hat tip to my brother, Jason Greenlee, for the link.

Maybe I Don't Get it 'Cause I'm Not Catholic. . .

Lines for Santa Claus were never like this.  Ahem.  Readers of this blog (all six dozen of you) know that I'm not religious. Not even a little bit religious. Maybe a little anti-religious. But I love the trappings of Christmas. I'm all about the peace and love, the giving (and receiving!) of gifts. I like the egg nog, the wassail and the parties. I'm as fond of sending a gift as I am of receiving it. And as dodgy as the whole Santa Claus myth might be ethically for the little kiddies, I'm totally down with it.

But when you get to the midnight masses, and the overtly reverent religiosity, I couldn't give a damn. Seriously. I'd wager that most efforts at this part of the Christmas experience are by rote for most people. And when we get to the Catholic parts of the holiday? The Popey parts? Well, in the days of Pope John Paul II, I wasn't too bugged. He seemed nice, and smart, and not all that creepy (until they were almost propping him up). But this new guy? Creepy. Star Wars' Emperor Palpatine creepy. Zombie creepy.  Nazi creepy. So, while I have no evidence or knowledge that the current pope has any affinity for kiddies, this picture still gives me the creeps.

Source: Joe.My.God.

Nun Excommunicated for Abortion to Save the Life of a Mother

I really don't know what to say about this one. Just, wow. (Oh, and I found the image at left on the interwebs, and couldn't resist tweaking it.)

[Excerpt]

Nun Excommunicated For Abortion Decision To Save Mother's Life

When it comes to Catholic teaching on abortion, no exceptions are allowed. Even if carrying a pregnancy to term would result in the death of both mother and child, abortion is still not an option.



Which is why a nun who is an administrator at a Catholic hospital in Phoenix this week found herself formally excommunicated -- essentially the sacramental equivalent of capital punishment. . .

Read more at: Politics Daily

Man in Fancy Dress (Named Janis) Speaks Out Against Gays

Image from source, Joe.My.God.

Sigh. There are so many jokes that can be made like those in the headline, but this really isn't funny. And what kind of authority on sex is a Catholic priest anyway? Isn't that akin to an Amish person recommending the kind of car you should drive? Or letting a blind person opine about the best HDTV?  Anyway, he's all kinds of wrong, but it is kind of funny, so that's why I'm sharing it.
[Excerpt]

PhoboQuotable - Archbishop Janis Pujats

"We must assert that homosexuality is an acquired vice that can be likened to addiction to drugs, alcoholism, tobacco smoking, etc., so that those who practice it cannot be treated as a 'minority.' We must say that sexual perversion cannot be tolerated in the public sphere so that this disorder is not turned into a bad example for all society. . ."

There's more at: Joe.My.God.

Captain Obvious: Gays Aren't to Blame for Pedophile Priests

Image from source, Huffington Post

Grrrr. Stories like this really tick me off. Quick, if your big brother did something bad, and your Mom asked him who did it, what did he do? He tried to blame it on you, right? That's what the Catholic church is trying to do here.

Listen, I'm no psychologist, and I'm certainly not a Catholic. But I've been around the block enough times to know that pedophilia is a different thing from homosexuality. There are pedophiles who are gay and straight (and some may not identify with either category). And the church's pedophilia scandal may be 70% boys, but what does that leave? Are the girls being mistreated by the nuns?

I'm going to try to make a brief case here, see if this makes sense to you.

1) Catholic Priests must be celibate. If a guy is celibate a long time, his sexuality (whatever it is) may be expressed in inappropriate ways. I'd venture to say that a Priest so inclined would have more opportunities with boys than girls, though--again, not Catholic--I can't be 100% sure of that. This would not necessarily--strictly speaking--make the offender gay, any more than most men in prison who engage in same-sex behavior. He might be, he might not be. I suppose you could say--again, strictly speaking--the same offender may not have ever pondered pedophilia if he weren't presented with no other options. On the other hand. . .

2) A man predisposed to pedophilia might very well be attracted to the Priesthood as a way to "straighten" himself out. And then, whoopsie, he finds himself in the perfect position to do the thing he was trying to avoid. Or. . .

3) A man predisposed to pedophilia might very well be attracted to the Priesthood because he knows he will find himself in the perfect position to do the thing he wants to do.

I thought that was obvious.

[Excerpt]

Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican's Number 2: Priest Pedophilia Linked To Homosexuality

The Vatican's second-highest authority says the sex scandals haunting the Roman Catholic Church are linked to homosexuality and not celibacy among priests.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, made the comments during a news conference Monday in Chile, where one of the church's highest-profile pedophile cases involves a priest having sex with young girls. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Thanks to my friend Tracy for the link.

Gay Prostitution Ring in the Vatican?

Image from source, Joe.My.God.

Let's see, the things you'll most often find here are stories about hypocrisy, stories about religious hypocrisy, stories about homophobic hypocrisy. . .trifecta! And by the way, though this story appears in several places, I chose Joe.My.God. because of the hilarious/terrifying photo. This is what Pope Bennedict looks like when he's in a good mood. Can you imagine how this news story makes his skirts flutter!

[Excerpt]

Gay Prostitution Scandal Hits Vatican

"Put on some music, swallow a Viagra, and adelante!" That's the headline in Europe today following reports that a papal aide used an intermediary in an elite Vatican choir to solicit young male choristers and seminarians for prostitution. Police wiretaps are expected to result in charges against Angelo Balducci, 63, a Papal Gentleman, as lay attendant are called, and the former chairman of the Holy See's Public Works Department, which is itself caught up in a corruption investigation. . .

Read more at: Joe.My.God.

Iowa's Bishops Are Shaking In Their Dresses With Righteous Anger

Posted strictly for the headline and the photo. Hilarious.

Source: Joe.My.God

Bill Maher's New Rules, April 11, 2008

This is a particularly good set of "New Rules" from last night's Real Time with Bill Maher. Especially the last one. Take a look.

Because it is Sunday after all... A day of Simian Sabbath.

Judas Priestly Primates Cost $666 Million (almost)

What does one say about this little tidbit? 500 families victimized by the priests they trusted... (Imagine the countless others too afraid or embarrassed to come forward.) This 'apology' comes in at nearly $666 million. Which means these predatory priests have now cost the church about $2 Billion in sexual scandal expenses.
Maybe the church hopes that this is enough money to buy the time required to continue covering up as much of this rancid monkey feces as possible.
Funny thing... all of the money these people get bears this country's motto... "In God We Trust".

Church Agrees to Pay for Services Rendered.