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E-mailPope Benedict accused of masterminding Catholic Church sex abuse cover-up
'No denying fact that Benedict signed off on cover-up'
Published Friday, April 16, 2010, 12:12 PM
Updated Friday, April 16, 2010, 12:15 PM
Pope Benedict: Accused of engineering global cover-up in Catholic Church child sex abuse cover-up
Pope Benedict has been accused of masterminding the child sex-abuse cover up which has rocked the Catholic Church.
Swiss theologian Fr Hans Kung has written a furious letter to the Catholic bishops accusing the Pope of engineering the global cover-up.
"There is no denying the fact that the worldwide system of covering up cases of sexual crimes committed by clerics was engineered by the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Cardinal Ratzinger (1981-2005)," he said.
"During the reign of Pope John Paul II, that Congregation had already taken charge of all such cases under oath of strictest silence. Ratzinger himself, on May 18th, 2001, sent a solemn document to all the bishops dealing with severe crimes in which cases of abuse were sealed under the secretum pontificium, the violation of which could entail grave ecclesiastical penalties.
“With good reason, therefore, many people have expected a personal mea culpa on the part of the former prefect and current pope.Instead, the pope passed up the opportunity afforded by Holy Week: On Easter Sunday, he had his innocence proclaimed urbi et orbi by the dean of the College of Cardinals [Cardinal Angelo Sodano]," write Kung.
The letter was published in several publications across the world on Friday as Pope Benedict celebrated his fifth year as Pope.
In it, Kung called for another Vatican council and urged bishops to stand up for what's right.
He goes on to say that Benedict has "passed up more opportunities than" he has taken when faced with "major challenges of our time."
He gives examples of such missed opportunities. “Rapprochement with the Protestant churches”, “reconciliation with the Jews”, “the opportunity for a dialogue with Muslims”, and “reconciliation with the colonised indigenous peoples of Latin America”.
He continues, “the opportunity to help the people of Africa by allowing the use of birth control to fight overpopulation and condoms to fight the spread of HIV” and that of making “peace with modern science by clearly affirming the theory of evolution and accepting stem-cell research."
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Posted by stanJames on Feb 07, 2012, 11:51 PM ESTFAt chance, IC readers on the pope affirming Evolution. the ultra-conservative pope must know that affirming evolution blows up the adam and eve story on which virtually all western religions are based............The pope grew up btw in a church which had banned books list until vatican II.............Which it appears the Pope is trying to undo.
Posted by stanJames on Feb 07, 2012, 11:45 PM EST
If your opposed to using a clump of 150 cells to help end dread diseases, eg altheimers, macular degeneration etc, shouldnt we all oppose sending REAL PEOPLe to fight in Afghanistan, sacrificing thousands. I'm real serious on this one just to make a point.
Posted by stanJames on Feb 07, 2012, 11:42 PM EST
Several issues here. First of all so many posters seem to be trying to divert attention from the IC story - of the grand cover up of the endless hidden molestation of children by the church hierarchy
Also, someone complained about there being more molestation in the USA in general then in the church
First of all, the church ran a conspiracy to cover up these evil crimes. That's the real problem, PERIOD. Had the church immediately attacted the problem, probably 90% of the problem would have not occurred
And second, the USA is has a lot larger population then the alter boys and some other kids in the church. Most people realize that less then 1% of ordginary people molest children, while SNAP says 5000 priests molested kids, about 8% of the priests..............And it estimates half the molesters are still unknown. 10,000 bad preists out of 50 to 70 thousand - horrendous..............When will the church allow priests to marry?
Posted by sharon12345 on Apr 11, 2011, 07:53 PM EDT
the reason the host was handed to people instead of placed on the tongue was because of the fear of the aids epidemic. at the time no-one knew how it was spreading, so the bishops and medical community decided to be safe rather than sorry.
Posted by Intercessor on Oct 17, 2010, 09:47 AM EDT
I think that Kung is correct. There should be another Vatican Council. I think the agenda should be to completely expose the sins of our current Clerical System, which has effectively taken the Church away from "The People of God." Pope John XXIII envisions a church where the Laity would be empowered, and over the last 40 years, we haven't seen too much Laity muscle when dealing with the abuses of Clericalism. Had the Laity been empowered, we wouldn't have had the Priest Pedophilia Scandal and the subsequent, Scandalous Coverups by bishops, archbishops, cardinals and even the Pope! The "Magisterium" would have been afraid of being kicked out of their princely estates and forced to live like ordinary men, without parading around in ridiculous, medieval costumes, that St. Peter and the apostles would have been caught dead in! I'm thoroughly disgusted with the whole lot of them. Why do "The People of God" even bother keeping them around?
Posted by vincentruane on Jul 27, 2010, 08:31 PM EDT
In reply to Carroll09- It is very easy for you to figure out if these photographs of an impostor Pope are fake or genuine. And if you want to quote the Bayside Messages then in the interest of full truth please quote them in their entirety.
Posted by Godscre on Jun 13, 2010, 02:06 PM EDT
Who are the dissidents to Jesus' teachings?
Posted by Carroll09 on Apr 25, 2010, 05:50 PM EDT
Vincentruane- as I said before, I don't know the sources of the photographs: the website doesn't reveal the source. I have already told you what Canon Law says about responding to claims:the Church would not be making a judgement on whether the messages were genuine or not,but on whether or not they contain anything which is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church-which,as Catholics,we trust that Christ (as He promised) will not permit to teach error.All it would take is one message to be contrary to the teachings of the Church-I have pointed out some already.However,on May 29,1976,Ms Leuken claimed that 666 is NOT the number of ONE man - this is COMPLETELY CONTRARY to Scripture and the consistent teaching of the Church,which says that it IS the number of ONE man...She claimed in May 1969 that God existed before the Trinity-that he "subdivided" Himself.The Catholic Church has always taught that was and is always the Holy Trinity,of Father,Son and Holy Spirit...On November 1,1977,she claimed that ALL teachers in the school-system have fallen to satan.These are not cases of the media hiding things-these messages are freely available from Bayside-affiliated sites.Such claims as these cause confusion and instil fear and suspicion among the faithful.Rightly were they condemned by the bishop & I would strongly admonish you,if you are indeed a member of the Catholic faithful,to trust in the teachings of the Church which we know have come from Christ Himself through the Apostles, preserved from error.You should humbly obey the bishop,knowing that the Church herself will bring you to Christ- you can,with trust in Christ,pray that the bishop will be led to the right decision about Bayside if the initial decision was,as you claim,misguided.
Posted by vincentruane on Apr 25, 2010, 02:53 PM EDT
Again in reply to Carroll09-Whether the Bayside messages are true or not, is wide open for debate, but to condemn them without a proper Church investigation is wrong and very wrong! In relation to prophecy all prophecy is always conditionally on prayer,penance and atonement. Also be aware that the major power branches of the media hides a lot of truth from people. In relation to the photographs they have been confirmed by many independent sources who have no belief in the Bayside messages.
Posted by 2BorNot2B on Apr 23, 2010, 02:05 PM EDT
The CC has flat out condemned the Bayside 'apparitions' Check out the Vatican website.
Posted by Carroll09 on Apr 23, 2010, 05:40 AM EDT
Also,regarding what you claim to be an absence of an investigation.I presume you mean by this that Ms Leuken (or others perhaps) was not interviewed by the bishop-he would certainly have been in a position to evaluate the widely-publicised messages without visiting the site.Canon law,contrary to what some associated with Bayside claim,does not require a bishop to carry out interviews.Can.326 gives the bishop authority to suppress such activity as Bayside "if its activity causes grave harm to ecclesiastical doctrine or discipline or is a scandal to the faithful".The purpose of an investigation is not to make a judgement on whether x,y,z is appearing,but to assess whether or not supposed messages are contrary to the teaching of the Church.Many of the messages are clearly doctrinally unsound-such as the O.F. of the Holy Mass being inferior to that of the E.F.,which is absolutely at odds with what the Church teaches.You keep telling me that the messages tell people to use holy water,to go to confession,to pray the Rosary-all laudable things;however,1.you don't need Bayside to tell you these things and 2.don't be fooled into thinking that the devil wouldn't be happy to give 99% truth if he could introduce just 1% error into the minds of the faithful with the result being confusion,disobedient to the successors of the Apostles-the devil knows well that he has much power in a kingdom divided against itself,which is why I urge you to build your faith,as Christ built His Church,on the Rock,Peter-& his successors who have the assurance that the Holy Spirit will be with them always.
Posted by Carroll09 on Apr 23, 2010, 05:19 AM EDT
Vincentruane-I am comfortable quoting St Ignatius as he,as an Apostolic Father,with the other Church Fathers demonstrates the importance of the living Sacred Tradition.Again,as I have said regarding what you call photographic "evidence"-the sources of those photographs are never revealed.You are asking me to automatically accept that they are all genuine "papal" photographs.The fact is,as I've said,that any Pope Paul lookalike,such as the actor in question could have merely dressed up as the pope,had his photograph taken,and then say to the world that the photos are of the pope himself.As for it taking "at least 12 years of concentrated study to understand the Holy Bible"-12 years for whom?Scripture itself is clear that the Church is to interpret & explain the Scriptures to us-yesterday's Mass reading from Acts 8 shows the inability of the eunuch to interpret Isaiah without the help of the Apostle Philip.The response to Christ's question "who do men say I am"(Matt 16)-only led to conflicting answers:John the Baptist,Elijah,Jeremiah or one of the prophets.This is what happens when you leave everyone to interpret Scripture for themselves-evident in the ever growing number of Protestant denominations.God revealed the true answer to Peter.
Posted by vincentruane on Apr 22, 2010, 11:52 PM EDT
Also CarrollO9-I'm real puzzled by the fact that you feel comfortable using a quote from a ST.Ignatius Antioch from AD110, and you are also comfortable about ignoring strong photograph evidence and strong voice analysis from around 1975. That is one massive contradiction and also the Bayside messages state that it takes at least 12 years of concentrated study to understand the Holy Bible.
Posted by vincentruane on Apr 22, 2010, 10:55 PM EDT
In reply to Carroll09- You keep trying to avoid the key point and this it, the Catholic Church has never carried out a honest investigation of the Bayside messages, so it is dishonest to tell people to stay away from them, and this most definetly ignores some of God's Ten Major Commandments and the apostles and Jesus obviously believed strongly in The Ten Commandments. Also the Bayside messages strongly advise that all Catholics should use lots of Holy Water.
Posted by Carroll09 on Apr 22, 2010, 07:24 PM EDT
Vincentruane-just to add one further note:I wonder if you are familiar with Saint Faustina-it is said that she saw Jesus many times & indeed her obedience was put to the test.On one occasion she asked her Mother Superior for permission to make a certain sacrifice which Jesus requested.She was scolded by Mother Jane and told that she was not to make the sacrifice.She obeyed,and soon after Christ told her that her humble obedience to her superior was more pleasing to Him than any sacrifices she could have made-He always encouraged her to be obedient.Later,of course after numerous impediments,the Church decided that there was nothing in the Divine Mercy messages which were contrary to faith and morals.The point is that one ought to be humbly obedient when a pastor makes a judgement for the spiritual welfare of the faithful-if the judgement was hasty,the faithful can have confidence that the Lord, who is with His Apostles throughout the ages through the Holy Spirit as He promised,will always lead His Church to the right decision.As Pope John Paul II told the young people at WYD 2000: "If you love Christ, love the Church!" As St Ignatius of Antioch (A.D.110) said:"Follow your bishop...as Christ followed the Father.Obey your clergy too as you would the Apostles...Where the bishop is to be seen,there let all his people be;just as,wherever Jesus Christ is present,there is the Catholic Church."
Posted by Carroll09 on Apr 22, 2010, 06:47 PM EDT
The ongoing abuse scandals have nothing to do with it-unfortunately,bishops,priests and even the Pope are sinners like the rest of us-indeed as were all the Apostles sinners.However,individual failures don't affect the teaching of the Universal Church-failure of a bishop,for example,to act on a complaint does not mean that the Church teaches that to do so is ok.The Extraordinary Form of the Holy Mass is no better than the Ordinary Form-to say otherwise is to dismiss & contradict Pope Benedict's saying that they are merely DIFFERENT EXPRESSIONS OF THE ONE RITE.Either the one and same Sacrifice of Calvary is made fully present before us in both expressions of the Holy Mass or it is not-the merits of Calvary are infinite and do not come in half-measures.One Mass (celebrated reverently according to the rubrics and books set forth by the Church),which IS the Holy Sacrifice offered by Christ,is no better or worse than another;to say otherwise is,in fact,to make a mockery of the salvific power of just one drop of the Precious Blood shed by our Lord Jesus.There are many faithful Catholics,obedient to their pastors,who are returning to the traditions of the Church without engaging in and relying on messages which cause great confusion.
Posted by vincentruane on Apr 22, 2010, 05:59 PM EDT
Again in reply to Carroll09-The Bayside messages state that when a Cardinal or Bishop preaches heresy that is contrary to true Catholic Doctrine, Priests and lay people have the right to disobey, and when you think of this ongoing sex scandal obviously such a statement has a lot of merit, perhaps it was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Also the Bayside messages state that the current Mass is still valid but it is not as good as the old Mass.If there is one common message that defines Bayside it is return to tradition, return to the ways of your grandparents, the Catholic Faith that they understood. For 40 years these Bayside people have faithfully held 33-3-Hour Evening Rosary Vigils and have also as I have already said before prayed 15 Decades of the Rosary every Sunday for the good of the Catholic Faith.-What a story that is and the Brooklyn Archdioces still refuses to carry out an honest investigation of these Bayside messages.
Posted by jacersisityourself on Apr 22, 2010, 03:55 PM EDT
Thanks to Carroll09 for the link to firstthings site and that open letter response to Hans Kung. The debate is good. I haven't posted on the site - so far!
Posted by jacersisityourself on Apr 22, 2010, 03:50 PM EDT
I think the move to distributing Holy Communion by placing the host and/or chalice in the hands of the recipient was more in keeping with what Christ did with His Apostles and whoever else was there in the room at that “last supper” (why it’s called that I don’t know; heck, it was the first of – rurrrhhh – how many billions of Holy Feasts since? It’s been said there are four every minute all around the globe). More likely He asked them to pass the Communion from one to the next by hand. Sorry Vincent, I don’t feel I can run with your theories despite yr honest belief in them. I had a look at yr site btw; thank you for the invite. It is interesting but not convincing in many aspects. I trust and believe in Jesus and His Holy Mother, rarely in human interpretations of what either of them would say to us through those who claim to be holy intermediary visionaries.
Posted by Carroll09 on Apr 22, 2010, 05:34 AM EDT
Vincentruane-if the messages say that people should receive Communion on the tongue and kneeling,they are in direct conflict with the Church's position.Personally,I prefer to receive kneeling & on the tongue,but individual bishops' conferences have the authority to decide whether Communion in the hand will be permitted.Furthermore,the Church teaches that it is illicit to deny communion to a communicant on the grounds that they wish to receive kneeling where standing is customary.As for people praying the rosary for priests-that is laudable,but they can still do this amongst the false messages:even the demon in Mark 5 was able to affirm that Jesus is "the Son of the Most High God".How surprising that when the bishop makes a pronouncement about the false messages,the Bayside followers are told that it's ok to disobey the bishop.Funny-the same thing happened at the Holy Love "shrine" days after Bishop Lennon ordered the faithful to keep away.So,we are to believe that Christ appointed apostles and their successors (the bishops) to teach the truth by the power, guidance & authority of the Holy Spirit,and then His Mother,Queen of the Apostles,encourages disobedience to them? Please,forgive me for trusting Christ's words over those of a self-appointed prophet.
Posted by vincentruane on Apr 21, 2010, 08:02 PM EDT
CarroliO9-There is nothing in the Bayside messages that is heretical as you claim, how your mind has become so full of false facts is to me unexplainable.
Posted by vincentruane on Apr 21, 2010, 07:57 PM EDT
Also Carroll09-Every Sunday morning for 40 Years the people of Bayside have prayed 15 decades of the Rosary especially for priests.So would they be doing that, if they were heretical as you falsely claim.
Posted by vincentruane on Apr 21, 2010, 07:44 PM EDT
Again in reply to Carroll09-I believe the Bayside messages should be properly investigated by the Catholic Church and your claim that they are heretical is either a deliberate lie or you are a victim of misinformation.I will just give you two examples here-One- The Bayside messages do not say the current Mass is invalid as you claim, but it repeatedly says that the old Mass is a much better Mass.Two-In relation to your false point about obedience, this is what the Bayside messages state,'When a Cardinal or Bishop preaches to the flock false doctrine about the Catholic faith, a priest or a lay person has a right to disobey such heresy.In relation to Holy Communion the Bayside messages say, receive Holy Communion in your tongue and on your knees after making a good confession. I'll leave it at that for now.
Posted by Carroll09 on Apr 21, 2010, 06:29 PM EDT
George Weigel has written an open-letter in response to that of Hans Kung. It is worth reading: http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2010/04/an-open-letter-to-hans-kung
Posted by Carroll09 on Apr 21, 2010, 02:44 PM EDT
Vincentruane-do you not think that those involved in Bayside, on whose website the messages are published, would make sure that such messages,supposedly from Our Lady, would be correct before putting them out for all the world to see? These "printing errors" as you call them are reproduced on other websites, so this is what I and the world have to go on- and as it stands at the present time, the Bayside "prophesies" are teaching error and are heretical, and as I said in an earlier post, Catholics should place no credence on them- the Church, through Sacred Scripture,Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium guided by the Holy Spirit, gives us what we need in order to live as Christ wishes and to work for our salvation.
Posted by vincentruane on Apr 21, 2010, 10:57 AM EDT
In reply to Carroll09-Two times I have replied to every point in your message, but the message are being blocked. All your points about Bayside have major errors, except the June 18-1988- message, but because it doesn't make since in common English, it looks like a printing error has occurred ie- some key words have been left out. This is about the twentieth time In my replies to other posts I have been stopped. It reminds me of Section 31! Keep praying the Rosary.
Posted by JOHNTOBIN on Apr 21, 2010, 01:50 AM EDT
I have not seen Irish Central report the fact that772,000 children of the general population of the U.S.A.were abused or neglected during the year 2007.Many experts claim this is only the tip of the iceberg.How about getting some balance into your reporting.
Posted by Carroll09 on Apr 20, 2010, 07:53 PM EDT
Vincentruane-for example,June 18,1988:"the one who comes after [Pope John Paul II] will destroy him if he can-he will attempt to destroy Pope John Paul II".Pope Benedict is the one who came after Pope John Paul-he was one of his closest aides in life & in death, Pope Benedict wants him canonised!On the same date,she prophesied that a "ball of redemption" will be set upon mankind & "is hurtling towards earth!It will be here within this century,if not sooner"...a prophesy on a market crash that would paralyse the whole world's monetary system in less than 2 years (which never happened).It continues to promote disobedience to successive bishops who have admonished the faithful to keep away-if we are to judge such "shrines" by their fruits,then the "fruit" of disobedience to the successors of the Apostles is a particularly rotten one.Doctrinal errors & deceptions include:saying that receiving Communion in the hand is sinful;Vatican II was false;The Ordinary Form of the Holy Mass is invalid;an "impostor Pope" governing the Church;Pope John Paul I poisoned.The list goes on...
Posted by jacersisityourself on Apr 20, 2010, 03:17 PM EDT
I think 2B is also quite right to highlight Who is being received in Holy Communion and the respect one should have in doing so. Frankly, I sometimes shudder at the enormity of what I am receiving but then think thankfully of the simplicity of Christ in choosing to present Himself to us under the appearance of bread and wine. Barneyjo’s reference to Matthew 7:15-20 is humorous in the context of 2B’s points on receiving Communion but I think barney could have included reference to the previous verse, 7:15-19, which might be seen as having everything to do with April Drew’s article above and vincentruane’s points.
Posted by jacersisityourself on Apr 20, 2010, 03:13 PM EDT
2BorNot2B – you are quite correct in saying that celebration of the Eucharist was held in private homes in the very earliest days of Christianity and I’m well aware of that, thank you. My references to churches and the inner sanctum belong to times when the first 'church' buildings appeared to serve growing Christian communities. I have a great interest in old churches and love visiting them on my travels. Though I’ve not been to Istanbul, I believe the (first-built, c.300 AD) Hagia Sophia there was the first Christian church to be declared a Basilica and it contained an inner sanctum one time. The present Hagia Sophia building (c.500 AD), once a basilica, then a mosque and now a museum, also had a sanctum. I’ve seen inner sanctums (ok, I know that should be sancta) in old Greek Orthodox churches – two very endearing ones particularly, one in a busy commercial street in Athens city centre (it’s tiny, delightfully out of place yet snugly fitting in perfectly amidst the shops and office buildings) and the other in Lindos, on the island of Rhodes off the coast of Turkey. I prayed the Our Father in both.
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